Rockies 12, Giants 3:
Bats come alive in blowout of San Francisco
Colorado, at 12-6 and seemingly on cruise control, is tied for the most wins in baseball.
Walk-up Rockies fans on Saturday afternoon found an odd sight — Bud Black scanning their credit cards and tearing off receipts in the Coors Field ticket booth. The first-year Colorado manager has his hands all over a club turnaround. He even sells seats.
Black can afford the time for small chat. Inside the gates, his team is playing on cruise control.
The Rockies streaked past San Francisco again Saturday night, this time a 12-3 blowout powered by homers from Mark Reynolds, Trevor Story and Charlie Blackmon.
The victory — a fifth win in six games — guaranteed consecutive series wins over the Giants to start a season for the first time since 2002. The Rockies (12-6) are tied for the most wins in baseball.
But they sprinted to the top of the National League West with sparse hitting and a shutdown bullpen. That mode is beginning to flip. They pounded new Giants pitcher Matt Moore for nine hits, six runs and three homers in his four brief innings on the mound.
The Rockies’ 14 hits were a season high — and half went for extra bases, with three home runs, a triple and three doubles.
Blackmon’s leadoff triple seemed almost a relief. His insidethe-park home run Friday helped bury a Giants team still reeling from the loss of Madison Bumgarner to a sprained shoulder from an off-day dirt-bike crash in Colorado. Stopping Blackmon at third base was a minor victory.
Nolan Arenado, though, quickly singled him home and Reynolds followed with a two-run rocket to left field that flew 433 feet. A rout was on.
In the fourth, they rounded the bases again, with solo homers from Blackmon and Story and an RBI double from catcher Dustin Garneau. Four of Story’s past five hits have been home runs, and the other was a double.
And while the Giants started an outfield trio Saturday hitting a combined .150 with one home run, the Rockies are quickly getting their groove back.
“Our offense isn’t where it’s going to be,” Black said before Saturday’s game. “There’s more in there for sure.”
If this is a struggling Colorado offense, it’s working. The Rockies are 8-3 against the giants of the NL West: 5-1 against the actual Giants and 3-2 against the Dodgers.
The Rockies’ sudden swatting surge Saturday was well timed. Antonio Senzatela, a 22-year-old right-hander who never pitched above Double-A before this season, never flinched with an early lead. He blew through seven innings on just four hits and one run allowed, a solo homer to Joe Panik in the sixth. Senzatela struck out three and made the Giants earn hits, with no walks issued.
Colorado’s bullpen — the primary reason for the Rockies’ strong start to the season, Blackmon said — flashed an anxious inning for the first time this season. The Rockies needed three relievers to finish the eighth, but not until the Giants scored twice on consecutive two-out, run-scoring hits from Brandon Belt and Panik off right-hander Mike Dunn.
Carlos Estevez struck out Brandon Crawford to end the eighth. The Rockies hit around their order in a six-run bottom half, with two more hits and two more RBIs from Reynolds.
The 39,239 fans at Coors Field included at least a handful who were sold tickets by the Rockies’ manager. But Black’s sales pitch is on the field. The Rockies continue to win — and now they are finally slugging.
“That’s more like it,” Black said after the game, referring to his team’s suddenly surging offense. “We got some triples and some doubles and some home runs and some walks.
“Wherever we are statistically in the league for hitting, that will climb.
“It’s a long season, but we feel good about where we’re at right now. We even lead the NL in double plays on defense.”