John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
For one of the final time for Bruce Bochy, the Giants played the hits.
The really hard hits, courtesy Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner. The most familiar, tune, though, was of torture, of a game that would not end, that droned on and on until individual fans’ voices could be heard, until a bullpen that never ends nearly ended, until a game that featured 25 pitchers – a major league record – turned excitement into yawns.
It was the last big hit, though, that rang untrue: a Charlie Blackmon blast to center.
In Bumgarner’s penultimate start with his beloved manager watching him from the dugout, he gritted through seven innings and blasted his first Oracle Park home run in years. His battery mate added his first home homer all season, which can help his confidence for next season. But the Giants’ bats disappeared after the eighth inning, and Blackmon put the fans out of misery to lead the Rockies to an 8-5 win at Oracle Park on Tuesday (and Wednesday morning) in 16 innings.
In front of a lively if sparse 27,870 fans – which was reduced to an energetic few by the late, late inning – the Giants (75-82) officially became a losing club in Bochy’s 25th season to begin his final, six-game homestand.
“It’s going to be tough to say bye,” Bochy said before the game, and for so long, it seemed as if the Giants wanted to ensure he wouldn’t have to, both refusing to lose and refusing to win.
Eventually, they learned, all games must end, and it was Dereck Rodriguez, the Giants’ 12th pitcher used, who gave up the go-ahead blast. The Giants were again silent in the bottom of the inning, Mike Yastrzemski’s 10th-inning single their last of the game.
The Giants still nearly broke through numerous times in extras – most notably, Mike Gerber struck out with the bases loaded to kill their hopes in the 11th. It ruined a Herculean effort from their bullpen.
After Bumgarner, a flood of Giants relievers – 13 in all – threw eight innings, the only slip-ups being Rodriguez and a solo home run surrendered by Jandel Gustave. Enderson Franco – who spent 10 years in the minors before finally debuting this month – stood out, making his third appearance in the majors with two outs and two on in the 10th. The 26-year-old got Ryan McMahon to bounce to first, and Franco walked off the field with the ball firmly in his glove in securing the biggest out of his life.
It was a difficult way to end a night that began with such promise, a night that once again united Bochy with the starting pitcher and position player who have meant the most to him.
Posey’s struggles at Oracle Park this season (and last season) have been legion. If his hip wasn’t hurting him, his home was, getting shut out in the home run column his first 202 plate appearances. Lucky No. 203.
That ball was pulverized. ?
#SFGiants pic.twitter.com/py8RTnRwOV— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) September 25, 2019
The 32-year-old jumped on a first-inning Jeff Hoffman fastball for his first Oracle Park dinger since June 19, 2018 (and seventh of the season) to put the Giants up 2-1. Bumgarner held down the Rockies for two more innings before giving Bochy one more own special moment.
Perhaps inspired by the man he’s been throwing to for 11 years, Bumgarner rocketed a no-doubter into the San Francisco night, a 369-foot long ball to left to put the Giants up, 3-1. It was Bumgarner’s second homer of the season but first at home since Sept. 3, 2017.
The battery that homers together…
#PitchersWhoRake | #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/w3i4UfHEmg— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) September 25, 2019
Bumgarner was responsible for four home runs on the day, but several he was not proud of.
The big left-hander allowed three to Colorado, one each to Garrett Hampson (in the first inning), Ian Desmond (fourth) and Trevor Story (fifth). Story’s solo shot put the Rockies up, 4-3, in a back-and-forth affair, not a classic Giants battle — there were eight homers total, setting an Oracle Park record (since 2000) — but one filled with moments regardless. For Story, that’s six straight games he’s gone deep against the Giants, passing a few guys who could sort of play baseball, Mike Schmidt (1979) and Rogers Hornsby (1922), who both homered in five straight against the Giants.
Bumgarner (the pitcher) was prone to strikeouts and misplaced pitches that would not come back. He’s now allowed 30 home runs on the season; his previous high was 26 in 2016. His nine strikeouts also moved him to 203 on the year, the fourth time of his career and first time since 2016.
Still, Bumgarner’s last pitch, his 106th, was a nasty curveball to strike out Story and finish seven innings, which seemed impossible after his 30-pitch first inning. His 22 swinging strikes were tops all season, and despite the long balls, he surrendered just four runs.
An entertaining night took a scary turn in the fourth. Alex Dickerson rocketed a fastball 99.6 mph off his bat and directly onto Rockies pitcher Jeff Hoffman’s right knee, Hoffman immediately going down. He tried to limp it off but collapsed again in a great deal of pain. He was carted off, with no immediate update from the Rockies, and 11 Colorado relievers were tasked with holding the Giants in check.