SAN FRANCISCO — After six strong from Madison Bumgarner (9-4, 2.09 ERA), the Giants (53-33) bullpen failed to do its job again. All seven Rockies (38-45) runs scored after the Giants ace departed, and Colorado cruised to a 7-3 win.
MORE: Bochy on bullpen: ‘We’re trying to get this thing sorted out’
Here’s how Tuesday night played out at AT&T Park, with a little bit of arguing sprinkled in.
The big moment
Arenado has 14 home runs and 45 RBI against the Giants since last season. That’s the most for any player against any single team in that stretch.
In the ‘pen
Baseball is as number-oriented a game as they come. Sometimes they don’t all add up. The Giants are now tied with the Reds for the most blown saves in baseball. Arenado’s go-ahead, three-run home run off Cory Gearrin cemented blown save No. 17. The Giants are tied for the most wins in baseball. The Reds have the third fewest.
Arenado’s moonshot scored D.J. LaMahieu and Nick Hundley, who was one of two Rockies to get a hit off George Kontos to start the seventh inning. LaMahieu chopped one toward third base that Conor Gillaspie bare-handed, but pulled Belt off first with a throw that scored the Rockies first run.
Things didn’t get any better in the eighth inning. Six straight Rockies reached after the leadoff hitter was set down, scoring three more runs to put the game out of reach. Gearrin was on the hook for four runs, and Hunter Strickland allowed three hits before walking in a run.
Disgruntled Pagan
Just after the Giants blew the lead, Pagan stepped in to begin the bottom half of the seventh inning. He started jawing with Hundley, throwing his arms up and shouting at the Rockies catcher, who was also arguing with home plate umpire Carlos Torres.
It’s not clear what the argument was about, but Pagan previously got in an argument with Padres catcher Derek Norris after throwing his gum mid at-bat. Benches didn’t clear in the seventh inning, but the umpires did huddle up to further delay the game.
“I don’t know,” Bochy said after the game. “I didn’t even ask (him).”
On the mound
On the heels of being named to his fourth-straight All-Star team, Bumgarner performed up to the role. He lowered his ERA to 2.09 with six shutout innings against the Rockies, but his outing didn’t end until he struck out looking on a 3-2 slider in the bottom half of the inning.
Rockies reliever Jordan Lyles was only returning the favor for Bumgarner, who struck out four hitters through his first two innings. The Giants lefty ran into trouble in the third, loading the bases on a pair of hits and a walk. He was saved by Mac Williamson, making a sensational catch in right field for the second day in a row. Trevor Story flipped a ball toward the right field corner, and Williamson slid across the foul line to snag it just before colliding with the side wall. Bumgarner threw his hands up in celebration of the inning-ending catch, and swallowed his right fielder in a bear hug when they met in the dugout.
He cruised from that point on, retiring nine of the 10 next hitters before leaving after six innings and 96 pitches. He was limited to his second-fewest pitches in a start this season, likely because the Giants are saving him for one more start on Sunday against Arizona.
At the plate
The Giants have had to come behind 27 times to win, and they took advantage of a first-inning error to try and ensure that kind of effort wasn’t needed. The bullpen’s seventh-inning hiccup flipped that script. Angel Pagan reached second base to lead off after first baseman Mark Reynolds made an errant throw. Brandon Belt scored Pagan when he fisted an inside fastball over the drawn-in infield, putting the Giants ahead by a run in the first inning.
The lead doubled in the fifth when Pagan took advantage of another Rockies mistake. The switch-hitter banged a triple off the right field wall, and scored again with Belt at the plate. This time Belt struck out on a breaking pitch that got past Hundley’s glove. Otherwise, Rockies lefty Tyler Chatwood effectively navigated the Giants lineup. He worked around four walks and three hits in five innings, only getting burned by his defense.
After Pagan’s triple, the Giants didn’t get another hit until Brandon Crawford legged out an infield single with one out in the eighth. He eventually scored on a two-out RBI single from Williamson as the Giants’ final run.
On deck
Johnny Cueto (12-1, 2.57 ERA) wraps up a phenomenal first half with a start against the Rockies on Wednesday night. In two starts against Colorado this season, Cueto’s allowed only one earned run in 14 1/3 innings. He’s in line to get five days of rest before the All-Star Game next Tuesday, which he’s a prime candidate to start after a ringing endorsement from Bruce Bochy. But before attacking American League hitters, Cueto squares off with Jorge De La Rosa (5-5, 5.98 ERA) at 7:15 p.m. on KNBR 680.
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