Noah Spirek | @NoahSpirek | July 21, 2024
The Rockies have clinched a series win over the Giants and are winners of three straight games.
vs San Francisco Giants – Game 2
Game Story
On Saturday, the Rockies opened the scoring early against San Francisco starter Logan Webb. In the first inning, the Rockies loaded the bases with no outs, thanks to a pair of walks with a single in-between. Elias Díaz then grounded into a double play, scoring Charlie Blackmon from third. Colorado added another run via a two-out infield single by Brenton Doyle, which scored Ezequiel Tovar and gave the Rockies a 2-0 lead.
The Giants got on the board in the third with a Tyler Fitzgerald solo shot. His third homer of the season came on a 1-2 sinker from Rockies starter Kyle Freeland and cut the Rockies’ lead in half.
In the 5th, San Francisco rallied to tie the game. With one out, Mike Yastrzemski roped a triple to right field, and he scored two batters later on a Tyler Fitzgerald two-out double.
The Rockies responded with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Sam Hilliard led off the frame with a bloop single to center field, and he scored on Ezequiel Tovar’s 16th big fly of the season. Tovar crushed a first-pitch hanging sweeper 455 feet onto the left field concourse, just inside the foul pole. When it landed, it gave the Rockies a 4-2 lead.
The Giants managed to score a run in the sixth inning with some help from the Rockies. After Freeland retired the first two batters, Matt Chapman reached on a throwing error by shortstop Ezequiel Tovar. Wilmer Flores followed with an RBI double, narrowing the gap to 4-3 in favor of Colorado.
Fortunately for the Rockies, their bullpen was nails for the second straight night. Reliever Nick Mears replaced Freeland on the bump in the seventh, and promptly struck out the side. He returned to the mound in the eighth for his second inning of work, and he worked another scoreless frame, while adding another strikeout.
To close out the game, reliever Victor Vodnik fired a 1-2-3 inning, earning his third save, and giving the Rockies their third consecutive victory.
Quotes
Rockies manager Bud Black on Kyle Freeland: “He’s been really consistent since he’s come back. Velocity, I think, is a big key to this. It’s up a couple of miles an hour, on average. The slider is sharp. The changeup is in the strike zone. The curveball comes into play. His four pitch mix has been really solid and he’s keeping the ball down.”
Kyle Freeland on his start: “The slider was a great pitch for us tonight, on both sides of the plate. It had late life. It was sharp… The curveball was good. We could tell that they were looking for that a little bit late in counts. So, we used that to our advantage [and] used the fastball around the zone and sliders. Mixed in some changeups here and there, but overall pretty good.”
Nick Mears on what was successful in his relief outing: “I think sticking to the slider. I mean, they weren’t touching it and I was gonna make them prove that they were gonna touch it. I feel like tunneling the slider and the fastball together was the recipe for success tonight.”
Notes
Kyle Freeland posted his fifth consecutive quality start with his 6 innings allowing just two earned runs. Since coming off the injured list on June 23, Freeland holds a 1.95 ERA (32.1 IP, 7 ER).
Ezequiel Tovar has homered in three consecutive games for the first time in his career. His 455-foot homer on Saturday was the longest of his career.
What’s Next for the Colorado Rockies?
On Sunday, the Rockies will look to finish off a three-game sweep of the Giants. Probable starters are RHP Hayden Birdsong (1-0, 3.72 ERA) for San Francisco and RHP Ryan Feltner (1-9, 5.36 ERA) for Colorado. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 MT.
Story by Noah Spirek.
ICYMI: Game 1 Recap
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