In the top half of the fifth inning at Coors Field on Friday evening, pitcher Jeff Samardzija played the starring role in a comedy, as his two-run home run gave his Giants’ teammates a good laugh and gave San Francisco a 4-1 lead.
Fifteen minutes later, Samardzija was the protagonist in a tragedy, as he followed up the home run by surrendering five runs in the bottom half of the fifth, continuing the Giants’ season of misery in their 10-8 loss to the Colorado Rockies.
A Giants team that entered a four-game set with the Colorado Rockies with the lowest-scoring offense in Major League Baseball packed plenty of power for the second night in a row, but it couldn’t save them as they fell a season-high 17 games under .500 and 17.5 games back of their first place foes from Coors Field.
Manager Bruce Bochy didn’t last to see the end of the Giants’ fourth straight loss, as home plate umpire Gary Cederstrom tossed him from the game in the bottom half of the seventh inning after Bochy, Samardzija and catcher Nick Hundley argued balls and strikes.
A night after coming all the way back from a 9-1 deficit only to fall 10-9 on a walk-off single, the Giants shot out to an early lead behind solo blasts from Joe Panik and Denard Span, who each hit their fourth home runs of the season off of Rockies’ right-hander Antonio Senzatela.
Though a double off the bat of Rockies’ second baseman D.J. LeMahieu cut the Giants’ lead to 2-1, Samardzija extended the Giants’ advantage with his third career home run, and his first since May 13, 2013 at Wrigley Field.
Samardzija’s blast traveled 446 feet according to Statcast, and helped him become the second Giants’ pitcher to drive in a run in the series, after Ty Blach stepped in with a pinch-hit RBI in the eighth inning of Thursday night’s loss.
After delivering heroics at the plate, though, Samardzija hit his first significant hiccup in the bottom half of the fifth inning, and it wound up costing the Giants the game.
An RBI triple off the bat of leadoff hitter Charlie Blackmon, another LeMahieu RBI and a three-run home run off the bat of left fielder Ian Desmond gave the Rockies a 6-4 lead that they would ultimately add onto in the later innings.
Samardzija’s final pitch of the game came in the bottom of the seventh, when his 3-2 slider to LeMahieu was ruled a ball, prompting the argument that resulted in Bochy’s ejection. The free pass was just the third issued by Samardzija in his last nine starts, which suggests he has a pretty strong understanding of the strike zone.
Before Samardzija hit the showers, the Rockies tagged him for 11 hits, making his start the fourth consecutive outing in which a Giants pitcher has surrendered at least 10 hits. The nine such games Giants pitchers have allowed 10-plus hits in this season are the most in the majors.
For much of the game, Samardzija and Giants’ relievers didn’t receive help from their defense, particularly in the outfield where Span and right fielder Hunter Pence looked lost.
A night after misjudging an early flyball that led to a Rockies’ double, Pence couldn’t corral three different base hits that are normally routine plays for the veteran outfielder.
After tying their season-high with 17 hits in Thursday evening’s loss, the Giants rapped out 11 hits including three from Panik, who followed up his first inning home run with a pair of doubles later in the game. However, as their bats came to life for the second night in a row, a pitching staff and a defense that has allowed 43 runs over its last five games let the Giants down.
Third baseman Eduardo Nunez and catcher Buster Posey were both held out of Friday’s game after leaving in the seventh inning of Thursday’s contest with injuries, but Posey pinch hit for Kelby Tomlinson in the top of the ninth inning on Friday while Nunez could be back by the end of the weekend.
With the loss on Friday, San Francisco has now dropped 13 of its last 18 contests, and have only the Philadelphia Phillies to thank for ensuring the Giants don’t have the worst record in the Major Leagues.
