© D. Ross Cameron | 2021 Aug 14
Sometimes you don’t play very well. For the first time in a while, hat’s what happened to the Giants on Saturday night.
San Francisco’s six-game winning streak was snapped after being shut down by dominant performance from Rockies starter Kyle Freeland, who made the Giants bats go dormant in a 4-1 victory at Oracle Park.
Freeland allowed just a single run in six innings, consistently painting the corners while striking out six. The Giants also couldn’t touch Jhoulys Chacin and Daniel Bard in relief, who combined to finish the job in the final three innings.
These days it’s unlike the Giants to lose. It’s also unlike them to make errors in the field while doing it. Yet that’s what happened in the top of the sixth, when Donovan Solano had the chance to turn a double play, and limit the inning’s damage to a single run. Solano couldn’t handle it, and the Rockies extended their lead to 3-1 as the ball slowly rolled into centerfield.
It was a good microcosm of a game where the Giants didn’t play very good baseball. Another example: The Giants hit into double plays in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, leaving each without a run.
Before the Solano error, the Rockies broke a 1-1 tie that existed since the second, when Dominic Leone loaded the bases before getting a single out. A run scored on a fielder’s choice when the next batter, C.J. Cron, hit into a fielder’s choice, the Giants getting the out at second but failing to turn the double play.
The brightest spot for the Giants on Saturday, perhaps the only one, was Zach Littell, who kept the game tied by pitching three scoreless innings and striking out four. It’s the first time he’s gotten more than six outs in an appearance since he was with the Twins in 2019. Littel is on a tear since being called up from Triple-A, using his live fastball en route to five hitless appearances and two saves.
San Francisco’s lone run came in the second inning, when Wilmer Flores worked a nine-pitch walk before Donovan Solano knocked in an RBI single. With two on and two out, the Giants elected to pinch hit Alex Dickerson for opener Sammy Long, ending his night after two innings. Long had a rough outing, giving up a solo shot to Cron in the second, throwing 44 pitches in two innings.
