ROCKED AGAIN
Giants routed by Colorado as their struggles at Coors Field continued
DENVER >> What goes up must come down, and the Giants’ trips to Coors Field are a testament to that law of motion.
No major league ballpark in the country is situated at a higher elevation than the Rockies’ home stadium, and there’s no city the Giants have fared worse in over the past two seasons.
After dropping Tuesday’s blowout 8-1, the Giants have now lost 13 of their past 15
games at the mile-high destination that’s become a house of horrors for San Francisco’s hitters and pitchers alike.
“It’s been a tough place for us,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “Probably as much as anything, we don’t seem to score a lot here.”
The Giants entered Coors Field fresh off a three-game sweep of the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks, a series that pulled the club within 2 1/2 games of the division lead in the National League West. But every time the Giants rise up the standings, they seem to fall back to sea level.
With a defeat Tuesday, the Giants have lost consecutive games for the first time since June 15-16 against the Dodgers, which was also the last time the Giants have been held to two runs or fewer in back-to-back contests.
Right-hander Chris Stratton took the mound Tuesday after the Giants announced several changes to their rotation to accommodate the upcoming returns of veterans Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija.
Though Bochy has praised Stratton for helping hold together the pitching staff during their absences, the Giants did not commit to announcing Stratton as the starter for next Monday’s game against the Cubs, which is when his turn in the rotation comes up again.
“I certainly haven’t helped myself out here recently,” Stratton said. “I think they
know what I can do and what I’m capable of here, so the decision is in their hands and you don’t think about that, you just try to go out there and win a ballgame.”
Stratton has been up at the major league level since August 2017, but the second-year right-hander could be on his way down to the minor leagues or back to the bullpen after allowing eight earned runs against Colorado.
“My past two outings I’ve given up a lot of hits ,and I guess it’s both against those guys, but I need to continue to mix it up,” Stratton said.
Back-to-back losses have brought the Giants down to earth at 45-42, but Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado remains on cloud nine whenever he faces San Francisco.
Arenado appeared in his 100th career game against the Giants on Tuesday and in the fifth inning, he launched his 24th career home run against the club to dead center field. His three-run shot extended the Rockies’ advantage to 6-0 in the fifth inning and brought his career total to 90 RBIs against Giants pitchers.
“It was down, but you’ve got to tip your cap sometimes,” Stratton said of the
pitch he threw to Arenado. “He had a good swing there, but I don’t know, man. That was a weird one for him to be able to put that one out.”
The Giants’ inability to figure out Arenado, who will soon lock up
his fourth career All-Star nod, isn’t all that surprising considering the Rockies’ best player continues to improve as he enters the prime of his career.
What’s more confounding are the Giants’ struggles against a Rockies team
that entered Tuesday’s contest with the worst ERA in the National League.
After the Giants managed just two runs in a 5-2 defeat Monday, Bochy’s squad did not score against Rockies starter Antonio Sentazela Tuesday.
The burly righty blanked the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate over 7 2/3 innings Thursday and tossed seven frames of threehit ball against San Francisco Tuesday to extend his scoreless streak to 14 2/3 innings against the organization.
“He was good, there’s no question,” Bochy said. “He’s got great stuff. He’s got that cutter along with the great fastball, and you know, he’s got the curveball now.”
• Bochy announced both Cueto and Samardzija will return to the rotation this weekend at AT&T Park against the St. Louis Cardinals, as Cueto will start Thursday’s series opener while Samardzija will pitch Saturday.
With a pair of veterans slated to pitch, left-hander Derek Holland will move to the bullpen and could see occasional work as a spot starter.
“I’m not worried about it or anything, I still have the opportunity to get out and pitch,” Holland said. “Basically how I see it is, I had a tryout as a starter for the year until everybody was ready to go, and now it’s my job to be in the bullpen and help out whatever way I can.”
Rookie Dereck Rodríguez will remain in the rotation and start Friday, while ace Madison Bumgarner will pitch the Giants’ series finale against St. Louis Sunday.