Giants Unable To Overcome Miscues, Lose To Rockies
DENVER (CBS / AP) -- Jordan Pacheco hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the fifth and Carlos Gonzalez added a solo homer, helping the Colorado Rockies hold on for a 10-9 win over San Francisco on Friday night that snapped a 10-game skid against the Giants.
Pacheco laced his first homer of the season to left on a hanging slider from Madison Bumgarner (4-2), who failed to protect an early four-run lead.
Jorge De La Rosa (5-3) entered the game without giving up a run at Coors Field in 12 innings. He was hit hard, surrendering five runs in five innings, only to settle down enough to earn the win.
The Giants, who rallied from an early six-run deficit the night before, were on the comeback trail again Friday.
Down five, they made things interesting by scoring three times in the seventh. It could've been more, but Dexter Fowler made a diving catch in center to end the inning.
Then, Buster Posey made it a 10-9 game in the eighth with a two-out homer off Matt Belisle. Hunter Pence followed with a double, only to be stranded when Brett Pill grounded out.
In the ninth, Rafael Betancourt struck out the side for his 10th save in as many chances.
Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki and Wilin Rosario -- the heart of the Rockies' batting order -- finished with a combined six hits, four RBIs and five runs scored. Gonzalez added an insurance run with his homer in the sixth.
Pablo Sandoval had three hits and drove in two runs for San Francisco, while Marco Scutaro extended his hitting streak to 16 games.
Bumgarner turned in his first clunker against the Rockies in quite a while. He had won six of his last seven starts before struggling on Friday. The lefty allowed a season-high nine runs -- seven earned -- in just 4 2-3 innings. His ERA climbed nearly a full run to 3.09.
Trying to preserve a one-run lead in the fifth, Bumgarner gave up a game-tying single to Rosario. A walk to D.J. LeMahieu loaded the bases for Pacheco, who sent the first pitch from Bumgarner over the fence.
Pacheco was in the lineup to give Todd Helton a break. He also had an RBI on a grounder in the second.
The Giants had a frightful night in the field, committing a season-high four errors. Two of those miscues came in the third, when Sandoval had a throwing error to begin the inning and center fielder Angel Pagan later sent a high throw to third base that ended up in the Giants' dugout, allowing Dexter Fowler to trot home. Tulowitzki tied the game at 4 with an RBI single.
San Francisco gave Bumgarner some breathing room with a three-run second. Brandon Crawford, Scutaro and Sandoval all had RBI singles to put the Giants comfortably up, 4-0.
But Bumgarner couldn't make it stand.
He was throwing strikes to the plate, but not to second base. After fielding a comebacker, Bumgarner tried to toss it to Crawford at short to start a double play, only to heave the ball into center. That led to an unearned run.
Scutaro gave the Giants a 1-0 lead when he jogged home on Posey's sacrifice fly in the opening frame. The hot-hitting Scutaro is batting .485 during his streak.
These days, the Giants have made themselves quite comfortable at Coors Field, winning 14 of their last 20 in this hitter's park. Rockies manager Walt Weiss quickly dismissed the notion the Giants have a psychological edge on his team.
"We know we've got to beat these guys," Weiss said. "We know they've had our number over the last couple of years. They're the world champions, so you have to go through them eventually. We know all that stuff. It's not stuff we have to talk about, it's already there. Got to go out and play well, find ways to win games."
Notes: Giants RHP Tim Lincecum (3-2) will start Saturday night. ... San Francisco is 31-10 against Colorado since 2011. ... The Rockies altered their starting rotation, with RHP Tyler Chatwood getting the start on Saturday and RHP Juan Nicasio being bumped back to Sunday. Chatwood joined the team from Triple-A Colorado Springs on Friday and will be added to the roster before his start.
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