Add The California Post on Google DENVER — There were some inauspicious signs that Saturday, like so many this season, might not be the Giants’ night. They lost an ABS challenge on the first pitch and were all out by the end of the first inning. Robbie Ray just about faceplanted while covering first base.
All was forgotten once the Giants’ bats began to rev their engines against an overmatched rookie making a spot start in the favorable offensive confines of Coors Field.
The same way the Rockies jumped all over Logan Webb in the opening game of the series, the Giants returned the favor against Sean Sullivan on their way to a 6-4 win to even the series.
Bryce Eldridge doubled in a run and launched a 458-foot home run to the second deck in right field. Victor Bericoto smacked a pair of doubles down the left-field line to lead a brigade of two-baggers from Heliot Ramos, Casey Schmitt, Willy Adames and Jung Hoo Lee.
Eldridge, who had been stuck in a 7-for-45 rut since his last homer 12 games ago, broke his own record for the longest home run by a Giants hitter this season.
The Giants’ seven doubles were tied for their second-most in a game this season, only two off their output from the 25-hit win last time they visited the cavernous mile-high setting.
They became the first visiting team in Coors Field’s 31-year history to record more than one game of seven or more doubles, something the Rockies have only done in five seasons.
San Francisco pounded out 14 hits in total, including three from Luis Arraez on the same day he was named one of the Giants’ two All-Star representatives (along with Logan Webb).
Still, Colorado brought the tying run to the plate against closer Caleb Kilian in the ninth inning. Pinch-hitter T.J. Rumfield singled home Cole Carrigg to cut the Giants’ lead to 6-4 and brought up Troy Johnston.
But in a setting where no lead is safe, that was as much drama as there was in three innings against San Francisco’s maligned bullpen, as Kilian got Johnston to chase at strike three for his eighth save.
The Giants caught somewhat of a break when Tomoyuki Sugano was scratched from his scheduled start with back spasms and replaced with Sullivan.
The 23-year-old soft-tossing southpaw had made four previous career starts with an 8.64 ERA. With the slowest average fastball velocity in the majors (87.8 mph), the Giants didn’t see a single pitch above 90 until Sullivan left the game with two outs in the sixth.
San Francisco immediately took advantage, accumulating all seven of its doubles off Sullivan and giving Ray a 4-0 lead to work with before the Rockies came to bat.
Ray briefly looked out of sorts after tripping and falling while covering first base in the bottom of the first. Somehow, he managed to catch the toss from Rafael Devers and step on the bag to record the second out of the inning before stumbling onto his hands and knees in foul ground.
What followed were the first earned runs allowed by Ray since June 10. He had been the first Giants starter since Matt Cain in 2006 to go at least 22 innings over three starts without an earned run.
Ray surrendered a single to the next batter and put another man on base on four pitches. Then, he hung a changeup to Cole Carrigg, who roped it around the left-field foul pole.
That, however, was all the Rockies mustered against Ray.
Again relying on the four pitches besides his signature four-seamer, Ray didn’t yield another basehit until his final frame and finished six strong innings for his fourth straight quality start.
It didn’t come back to bite them, but the Giants didn’t win any prizes for strategy in the way they deployed their ABS challenges. Ramos tapped his helmet on the very first pitch of the game, a heater that scraped the inside corner, immediately leaving them with only one left.
That didn’t deter Bericoto from going for it on the last pitch of his at-bat to end the inning. That one, at least, would have turned a strikeout into a full count with a runner in scoring position.
But, once again, the Giants’ batter’s instincts were wrong, leaving them at the whim of the home plate umpire for the remainder of the game.
Tyler Mahle (1-8, 5.67) gets the ball in the rubber match against Tanner Gordon (0-2, 6.69). Beware, as part of MLB’s Fourth of July weekend celebration, every game will be carried nationally on NBC/Peacock with first pitch set for 1 p.m. Pacific on the dot.
Giants fans will still get to listen to Dave Flemming and Hunter Pence on the call.
