DENVER — In two career starts here, Kyle Harrison looks to be the exception to the rule. With five more scoreless frames to begin the Giants’ second half schedule Friday night against the Rockies, the 22-year-old left-hander now hasn’t allowed a run in 12 career innings in the league’s least friendly pitching confines.
To the Giants’ detriment, however, Harrison’s success wasn’t contagious and their bullpen returned to Coors Field’s regularly scheduled programming.
It took a team effort for the bullpen to blow the three-run lead handed to them in a 7-3 loss that started the second half on a sour note.
Randy Rodríguez surrendered a two-run home run that pulled the Rockies within one run in the sixth, Ryan Walker allowed them to plate the tying run in the seventh after a leadoff double and a throwing error by Matt Chapman, and Tyler Rogers served up a towering go-ahead homer in the eighth.
The bottom two teams in the National League West standings will meet six more times over the Giants’ next 12 games.
The Giants had one bounce go their way, when left fielder Sean Bouchard whiffed on a diving attempt that led to a two-run triple from Thairo Estrada, but were also dealt a bout of bad luck, when Brett Wisely’s surefire extra-base hit ricocheted off the first-base umpire and into the glove of Colorado’s first baseman.
But mostly they were left kicking themselves over their own missed opportunities, going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranding eight men on base.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth, manager Bob Melvin stuck with Michael Conforto when Rockies manager Bud Black called on left-handed reliever Jalen Beeks despite having Luis Matos and Wilmer Flores at his disposal, and Conforto struck out to end the inning.
Harrison departed after five innings holding a 3-0 lead, courtesy of Estrada’s second-inning triple and an RBI groundout the following inning from Patrick Bailey, but the bullpen proceeded to let it wilt away over the ensuing three innings.
Despite only entering the game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning, Jake Cave doubled and scored off Walker in the seventh and slugged the go-ahead, three-run home run off Rogers in the eighth.
Harrison struggled to find the strike zone at times, issuing four walks and hitting a batter, and the Rockies ran his pitch count up to 93 force him from the game. But he struck out six and surrendered just one hit while becoming the third Giants pitcher since 2016 to complete five or more scoreless innings in the league’s least friendly pitching confines.
Related Articles
SF Giants’ Logan Webb, Heliot Ramos reflect on their All-Star experiences
SF Giants begin second half with wind at their backs. Can they take advantage?
What to know about SF Giants’ 2025 schedule, from holiday games to Dodgers showdowns
Lessons from SF Giants’ first half and what will determine their fate down the stretch
Kurtenbach: 3 SF Giants poised for post-All-Star explosions
Harrison himself was actually the last Giants pitcher to accomplish the feat, extending his streak of scoreless innings at Coors Field to 12 after also blanking the Rockies in this setting earlier this season, when he tossed seven shutout frames on May 7.
Striking out the side to strand two base runners in the fourth and punching out a pair to get out of another jam in the fifth, Harrison’s six strikeouts were his most in a start since May 24.
Up next
Fresh off his first All-Star appearance, RHP Logan Webb (7-7, 3.47) makes his first start of the second half against LHP Kyle Freeland (1-3, 6.00). First pitch is scheduled for 5:10 p.m. PT.
