© Isaiah J. Downing | 2021 Sep 6
The Giants departed San Francisco Sunday night after completing a pivotal season series win over the Dodgers. They arrived in Denver in the wee hours of the night. Sunday’s finale was originally scheduled for an afternoon game, but got flexed to Sunday Night Baseball because of SF’s improbable season making the NL West race arguably the most compelling story in baseball.
The suboptimal travel arrangements didn’t prevent the Giants from hitting home runs 203, 204, 205 and 206 on the year during Monday afternoon’s 10-5 victory over the Rockies in Coors Field. Led by Thairo Estrada’s first career multi-home run game, the Giants rode the long ball to take the series-opener.
Nor did the quick turnaround stop SF from jumping out to a first-inning lead in the hitter-friendly ballpark. Darin Ruf opened Monday’s game with his first career leadoff homer. He smoked Kyle Freeland’s hanging 0-2 curve for a blast to left field. Two batters later, Buster Posey sent one 403 feet over the right field wall.
Posey, who had been struggling recently, broke out in his last game with a 3-for-4 night against LA. Manager Gabe Kapler said Posey’s at his best when he’s driving the ball to the opposite field, and he did just that to give SF a 2-0 edge in the first.
Balls were flying all over the yard in the 93-degree afternoon altitude. The teams combined for seven total homers.
Rockies second baseman Ryan McMahon charged a Kevin Gausman fastball over the left field fence for an opposite field homer in the second, halving SF’s early lead. Gausman, who relies more on his splitter than any starter in decades, featured his fastball much more than usual in Coors.
But Gausman (7IP, 3ER, 5H, 9K) otherwise largely shut down the Rockies for his second consecutive strong start. He’d struggled after the All-Star Break, but Gausman seems to be returning to form for the stretch run. Part of his previous struggles were due to his lack of ability to elevate his fastball consistently, but he had no trouble at all with that in the win.
Gausman also enjoyed plenty of run support, led by Estrada. The 25-year-old second baseman tagged Freeland for a solo shot to left field in the third, then turned on a Freeland slider in the fifth to pull a two-run homer. By the time Estrada (3-for-5, 3 RBI) came up to bat for the third time, the Giants led 8-1.
In addition to Estrada, the bottom of SF’s lineup also contributed. Steven Duggar, inserted into the starting lineup last-minute because Mike Yastrzemski was dealing with non-COVID-19 related stomach illness, made the most of the opportunity by recording two singles off left-handed pitchers. The two-hit performance came on the heels of his life-injecting triple against the Dodgers. Another recent call-up, Mauricio Dubón, also starred Monday, going 3-for-4 and reaching base four times.
The Rockies, despite being 11 games below .500, aren’t pushovers. At Coors field, Colorado entered Monday 45-24 for a .652 winning percentage. At home, they’re a playoff team. And they rallied late, with Trevor Story’s two-run homer off Caleb Baragar in the eighth and threatened to add more against John Brebbia.
But Colorado couldn’t keep the Giants in the yard. That was the difference. It was the 13th time in 2021 SF has hit at least four big flies in a game, matching the franchise record.
With their four homers Monday, the 2021 Giants moved into fourth place for the franchise single-season record (206). The record, 235 by the 2001 club, remains in reach with 23 regular season games remaining.
Five more games at Coors Field certainly could help them get there.
