Desmond leads Colorado effort with four RBIs
If the California Legislature fast- tracks a bill to legalize sports gambling after this week’s U. S. Supreme Court go- ahead, the first sure bet might be the Giants ending Mac Williamson’s minor- league rehab assignment a lot sooner than the seven to 10 days that manager Bruce Bochy guesstimated.
The Giants’ offense, which has slowed considerably in recent days, can use another shot of Mac like the one he supplied before his concussion.
Williamson homered in his first rehab game with Triple- A Sacramento on Friday night, and the Giants were shut down in a 6- 1 loss to the Rockies in which Ian Desmond, by one mea-
sure the National League’s worst hitter, drove in the first four runs.
Desmond entered the game with the lowest park- adjusted OPS of all 80 qualifying hitters, which rose with a threerun homer off Derek Holland in the fourth inning and a two- out RBI double in the sixth.
That’s the bitter part for the Giants. Nolan Arenado is not beating them. The struggling Rockies behind him are.
“Yesterday the first three runs were knocked in by the back end of their lineup, including the pitcher,” Bochy said. “This was a tough one to lose, too. ( Desmond) is a good hitter whose numbers aren’t what they’re going to be, just like I’ve said with our guys. You make mistakes and he’s going to take advantage of them. That’s what he did tonight.”
Holland completed six innings.
Charlie Blackmon hit his two- run homer in the ninth off Jose Valdez.
The Giants had no counterargument against left- hander Kyle Freeland, who spotted them a Gorkys Hernandez homer to start the first inning then pitched shutout ball the rest of his 62⁄ 3.
Hernandez also homered for the first run of Holland’s 5- 0 victory in Pittsburgh on Sunday. They might become a package deal.
Evan Longoria and Brandon Crawford chased Freeland with singles in the seventh, but pinch- hitter Brandon Belt looked at another third strike on a 3- 2 pitch from reliever Bryan Shaw to end the inning.
Belt had no argument on that pitch, a nasty, 97 mph cutter that started off the plate and bled onto the outside corner. Belt walked back to the dugout without a word.
The Giants had five hits off Freeland and none against Shaw or Mike Dunn, who pitched the ninth.
“We just have some guys who aren’t quite locked in right now,” Bochy said after his hitters pounded the ball into the ground all night. In fact, they did not have a flyball out until right fielder Noel Cuevas squeezed Nick Hundley’s flyball to end the game.
Freeland had a good scam going. He would bust righthanded hitters inside and they would roll over on balls and hit them to Arenado, who played everyone on the thirdbase line.
Longoria and Andrew McCutchen each hit into double plays, McCutchen to end the third inning after Holland singled for his first hit of the year.
Holland ran the bases without a jacket on a 56- degree night but did not use stiffness as an excuse for the fastball he left over the plate to Desmond after he walked Arenado and surrendered a Trevor Story single to start the next inning.
“These guys are professional hitters,” Holland said. “I’ve got to do a better job with location on that pitch right there.”
Desmond came into the game hitting .167 in the second season of a five- year, $ 70 million contract. For one night, anyway, he silenced cries of, “What are we going to do with this guy?”