On a day Rafael Devers clobbered a three-run Splash Hit, the San Francisco Giants‘ final game of the homestand was decided by little things – a wild pitch that wasn’t all that wild, some inattention and walks. So many walks.
Giants manager Tony Vitello has said that the club is still prioritizing wins but also has mentioned many a time that San Francisco must play cleaner baseball. That includes fewer mistakes, minimizing walks. Staying alert. Those things have cost the Giants all year, but Sunday’s 13-7 loss to the last-place Rockies was a walking nightmare.
San Francisco pitchers walked 10, resulting in eight runs. A hit batter, on an 0-2 pitch no less, drove in another run. Thanks to the ABS system, a team that pitches that poorly can’t even blame the day on getting squeezed. Catcher Drew Cavanaugh challenged one call and the ball was confirmed.
JT Brubaker was the author of the hit batter, but he also was charged with a wild pitch that was just a pitch that got away from Cavanaugh, a bouncer that squibbed a couple of feet away. Cavanaugh couldn’t find it quickly, though, and suddenly Zac Veen jetted in from third so unexpectedly that as Brubaker and Cavanaugh considered it, Jordan Beck took third.
Among the most aggravating aspects of walks for the Giants this year is that they don’t collect enough themselves. They’re still at the bottom of the majors when it comes to taking their own walks, but Sunday, they got a very savvy at-bat that ended in a walk in the fifth. With the bases loaded and two outs, Buddy Kennedy didn’t flinch after falling behind Nick Frasso 0-2, waiting out a free base and sending in what at the time was the go-ahead run. The man Kennedy drove in? Bryce Eldridge, who reached on a walk.
The Giants, as they have a tendency to do, stopped there, while the Rockies were just getting started. San Francisco didn’t get a man past first in the final four innings against their NL West rivals.
Rockies 13, Giants 7
| Colorado | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 32 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 5 | |
| McCarthy cf-rf | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .296 |
| Carrigg ss-cf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .292 |
| Moniak dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | .264 |
| Castro 3b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .262 |
| Johnston 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .282 |
| Veen rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Norby 2b | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .203 |
| Beck lf | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .194 |
| Sullivan c | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | .241 |
| Amador 2b | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | .500 |
| Tovar ss | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .208 |
| San Francisco | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 37 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 7 | |
| Gilbert cf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .242 |
| Devers dh | 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .246 |
| Eldridge 1b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .247 |
| Lee rf | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .292 |
| Basabe 2b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .283 |
| a-Cox ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .258 |
| Cavanaugh c | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .250 |
| Hill lf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .167 |
| Kennedy 3b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .091 |
| Koss ss | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .198 |
| Colorado | 040 | 024 | 300_13 | 9 | 1 |
| San Francisco | 141 | 010 | 000_7 | 11 | 1 |
a-struck out for Basabe in the 9th.
E: Johnston (4), Hill (1). LOB: Colorado 4, San Francisco 8. 2B: Carrigg (15), Devers (30), Basabe (2). HR: Amador (1), off Tidwell; Sullivan (7), off Winn; Devers (25), off Hughes. RBIs: Veen (5), Amador 3 (3), Carrigg 2 (33), Moniak 3 (57), Sullivan 3 (26), Eldridge (32), Gilbert (29), Devers 3 (69), Hill (2), Kennedy (1). SB: Norby (8). CS: Gilbert (4), McCarthy (5). SF: Moniak.
Runners left in scoring position: Colorado 3 (Castro 3); San Francisco 2 (Koss 2). RISP: Colorado 5 for 9; San Francisco 5 for 9.
Runners moved up: Sullivan, Cavanaugh. LIDP: Moniak. GIDP: Beck, Gilbert.
DP: Colorado 1 (Norby, Tovar, Johnston); San Francisco 2 (Eldridge; Basabe, Kennedy, Koss, Basabe).
| Colorado | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hughes | 4 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 81 | 6.69 | |
| Frasso, W, 1-1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 28 | 6.75 | |
| Mushinski, H, 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 3.18 | |
| Herget | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 6.17 | |
| Agnos | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 5.60 |
| San Francisco | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tidwell | 4 | 1-3 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 63 | 4.33 |
| Hentges, L, 1-5 | 1 | 1-3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 3.07 |
| Brubaker, BS, 2-4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 3.59 | |
| Sanmartin | 2-3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 9.39 | |
| Winn | 2-3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 3.35 | |
| Harris | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 13.50 | |
| Foley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 4.66 |
Brubaker pitched to 3 batters in the 6th
Inherited runners-scored: Frasso 1-1, Hentges 2-2, Brubaker 2-2, Sanmartin 3-2, Winn 1-1. HBP: Frasso (Basabe), Brubaker (Carrigg). WP: Brubaker.
ABS Challenge: Hill (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Carrigg (Strike-Confirmed); Eldridge (Strike-Confirmed).
Pitch timer violations: Tidwell (pitcher).
Umpires: Home, Brian Walsh; First, Gabe Morales; Second, Lance Barrett; Third, John Bacon.
T: 3:08. A: 32,063 (41,915).
Blade Tidwell started for the Giants and he was coming off two strong starts in which he allowed no more than two runs – and gave up no more than one walk. He walked five Sunday and four of those runners scored.
He gave up six runs in all, three on Adael Amador’s three-run homer with two outs in the second. Brett Sullivan also hit a three-run homer for the Rockies, off Keaton Winn in the seventh.
San Francisco dropped the series to Colorado as well as the two other series on the homestand, against Detroit and Houston. The Giants are 10-18 since the All-Star break.
Subscribe
There’s more to San Francisco with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.
This article originally published at Wild West matchup sees Giants pitchers walk 10 in loss to Rockies.
