Hwang homers in debut to lift Giants

SAN FRANCISCO — Jae-Gyun Hwang stepped out of his comfort zone and into a beer shower.

The native South Korean left behind lucrative contract offers to pursue a lifelong dream of playing baseball in the majors.

Hwang homered in his major league debut, a tiebreaking drive in the sixth inning that led the San Francisco Giants over Colorado 5-3 on Wednesday and extended the Rockies’ losing streak to a season-high eight games.

And then after the game, he got soaked.

“There’s not such a thing in Korea, but I’ve gotten to know there is such a thing, personally, just a few minutes ago,” Hwang said through a translator. “I was actually more surprised about how cold the beer was.”

A 29-year-old who starred for South Korea’s Lotte Giants, Hwang was brought up from Triple-A Sacramento before the game and inserted into the starting lineup at third base, batting fifth.

He grounded out in the second inning, hit a run-scoring grounder in the fourth that cut Colorado’s lead to 2-1, then broke a 3-3 tie when he homered against Kyle Freeland (8-6).

Hwang was given a standing ovation from fans as he rounded the bases and was mobbed by teammates

San Francisco’s Jae-Gyun Hwang crosses the plate next to Colorado catcher Tom Murphy after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning Wednesday. when he got back to the dugout.

He took a called third strike in the eighth, completing a 1-for-4 day.

“He plays with a lot of emotion, he’s got a lot of fire in him and that’s what you love about him,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.

“He’s a clutch hitter, you look at what he’s done as far as his body of work in Korea and he’s been a big RBI guy, so those guys do have a way of stepping up in the moment.”

Ty Blach (5-5) gave up three runs — one earned — seven hits and three walks in 6 1/3 innings. George Kontos, Steven Okert and Jeff Chiu / The Associated Press

Hunter Stickland combined for one-hit relief. Strickland retired Ian Desmond, his only batter, on a flyout for his first save this season.

San Francisco’s bullpen pitched 13 1/3 scoreless innings during the three-game sweep. The Giants entered the series on a five-game skid and with 12 losses in 13 games.

Freeland gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings.

“There are games where you go six innings and give up four runs and you’re credited with the win,” Colorado Rockies manager Bud Black said.

“We would say that, hey, he pitched well enough to win. This game, he just got out-pitched a little bit by their guy. That was the key.”