The Rockies’ offense, not to be confused with a chocolate-and-coconut candy bar, might be best described as “Indescribably Atrocious.”
Too harsh? Not after the Rockies came home from a 1-7 road trip and promptly lost 5-0 to the Giants on a chilly Tuesday night at Coors Field. Colorado, which now owns an 8-27 record, was shut out for the sixth time this season.
Last year, on their way to a franchise-worst 103-loss season, the Rockies were blanked nine times. Already this season, they have been held to four or fewer hits eight times.
Giants left-hander Kyle Harrison dominated the Rockies for seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits (all singles), walking two, and striking out two. He induced 11 outs via groundballs.
Harrison’s seven innings were a career-high, and he became just the sixth Giants starter to pitch seven or more shutout innings at Coors Field, and the first since Barry Zito pitched a complete-game shutout on April 9, 2012.
“He has a live fastball, and if you break down his delivery, he’s got a long extension and the ball gets on you a little quicker,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Tonight, the changeup and the breaking ball came into play a little bit. In his last start against Boston, he was a little erratic, and he had the five walks.
“But tonight, he wasn’t (erratic). He was in and around the zone. … We couldn’t square up the fastball, and he threw enough changeups and sliders in certain counts. He got us.”
The Rockies made a tiny bit of noise in the ninth when Brendan Rodgers and Sean Bouchard drew one-out walks off reliever Camilo Doval, but Doval struck out Jacob Stallings and Elehuris Montero to close out the game.
The Giants’ game-clinching, four-run fourth inning was sprinkled with a lot of luck and a couple of clutch hits. Matt Chapman drew a one-out walk off Hudson and sprinted to third on Blake Sabol’s solid single to right. Chapman scored on Nick Ahmed’s swinging base-hit bunt that third baseman Ryan McMahon couldn’t pick off the infield grass.
Jung Hoo Lee followed with another lucky infield hit, again to McMahon, and Thairo Estrada’s groundout to second scored Sabol from third. That was it for Hudson. He was replaced by lefty Ty Blach, who came in to face the left-handed hitting LaMonte Wade Jr. But Black’s left-on-left strategy didn’t work out. Wade, who’s hitting .355, ripped Blach’s 1-2 sinker into right field, driving in two runs.
Hudson and Stallings, the veteran catcher, were the Rockies’ only two free-agent acquisitions. The Hudson signing has not worked out, at least not so far. In 3 2/3 innings Tuesday, he was charged with four runs on five hits. He walked four and struck out two. After seven starts, Hudson is 0-6 with a 6.35 ERA.
“They had some weak contact and scored some runs — because of the walks,” Hudson said. “It’s about running a complete game. It feels like I have half a game going.”
As for the infielder nubbers, Hudson said, “It’s frustrating. Those are (good) pitches in my mind. But those leading to runs are kind of tough to deal with.”
Black made it clear that Hudson needs to clean up the walks.
“It’s not where it needs to be for Dakota,” Black said. “He has a bottom-of-the-zone attack to create the grounder. He just hasn’t been consistently able to (pitch) in the strike zone. It’s troublesome.”
San Francisco’s fifth run came in the seventh on Michael Conforto’s run-scoring single off Blach. Estrada led off the inning with a single off Blach and moved into scoring position when Blach walked Wade.
There are a lot of statistics that help explain the worst start in Rockies history, but one of the most telling is this: With runners in scoring position, opposing teams are hitting .343 (108 for 315) against Rockies pitchers.
Rockies’ Wednesday pitching matchup
Giants RHP Jordan Hicks (2-1, 1.89 ERA) at Rockies RHP Peter Lambert (2-1, 5.66)
6:40 p.m. Wednesday, Coors Field
TV: Rockies.TV (streaming); Comcast/Xfinity (channel 1262); DirecTV (683); Spectrum (130, 445, 305, 435 or 445, depending on region).
Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM
Lambert wants to be a permanent part of the starting rotation, but to do that, he’s got to find some consistency. In his two starts this season, he is 0-1 with a 14.21 ERA. In his seven games as a long reliever, he is 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA. In his last start, he was chased after just 3 1/3 innings, having allowed four runs on five hits at Miami. The right-hander is 0-1 with a 6.95 ERA in five games (four starts) vs. the Giants. He got hammered at San Francisco’s Oracle Park on Sept. 10 last season, allowing six runs on eight hits, including three home runs.
Some pundits questioned the Giants’ decision to convert Hicks from a reliever to a starter after signing him during the offseason. But so far, it’s paid off, even though Hicks took the loss last Friday vs. the Phillies when he allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits and four walks over four innings. He struck out three. He has yet to allow more than two earned runs through his first seven starts. In seven relief appearances against Colorado (7 2/3 innings), he’s 1-1 with a 4.70 ERA. In three appearances (four innings) at Coors Field he has a 4.50 ERA.
Pitching probables
Thursday: Giants RHP Keaton Winn (3-4, 4.41) at Rockies RHP Cal Quantrill (1-3, 4.31), 1:10 p.m.
Friday: Rangers RHP Dane Dunning (3-2, 4.10) at Rockies LHP Austin Gomber (0-2, 3.79), 6:40 p.m.
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