Casey Schmitt smacked a three-run homer, Justin Verlander won what could be his final game in San Francisco, and the Giants held on for a 4-3 victory over the visiting Colorado Rockies on Saturday afternoon.
Spencer Bivens got the final two outs with the potential tying run on third base, saving a third straight win for the Giants (80-81), who needed to complete a sweep over the Rockies on Sunday in the regular-season finale to avoid a losing season.
The homers by Hunter Goodman, his 31st in the first inning, and Brenton Doyle, his 15th in the second, staked Rockies starter Kyle Freeland to an early 2-0 lead.
But the Giants seized the upper hand for good in the last of the second with one swing of Schmitt’s bat, whose go-ahead homer, his 12th of the year, also scored Matt Chapman, who had walked, and Wilmer Flores, who had singled.
Freeland (5-17) completed six innings without allowing another run. He called it a day after having allowed the three runs on just three hits. He walked one and struck out four in taking over the major league lead in losses.
Signed to a one-year deal for this season, Verlander (4-11) won for the fourth time in his last seven decisions after an 0-8 start. He gave up five hits and one walk in his six innings, striking out seven.
The Giants tacked on a critical insurance run in the eighth when Andrew Knizner walked and Rafael Devers doubled him home with two outs. The RBI was the 108th of the season for Devers bridging his days with the Boston Red Sox and Giants.
Jordan Beck made it a one-run game again with his 16th homer, a solo shot, off Ryan Walker leading off the ninth.
Bivens came on to strike out Warming Bernabel and, after hitting Ryan Ritter to load the bases, got Ezequiel Toval to foul out to nail down his second save.
Goodman and Doyle were the only players in the game with a pair of hits, but couldn’t prevent the Rockies from moving within one loss of tying the 2003 Detroit Tigers (43-119) for the third-most losses in a single season in the modern era of MLB.
