For the first time this season, the Giants had their full complement of position players. With Joc Pederson and Thairo Estrada back from the injured list, the Giants’ lineup had the depth the front office intended it to have.
Their leadoff hitter, LaMonte Wade Jr., reached base all six times he stepped to the plate. Their eighth hitter, rookie Patrick Bailey, got a sweet first taste of Coors Field by smacking two doubles and a triple.
That duo led the charge in a 10-4 Giants romp over the Rockies in Coors Field. San Francisco (30-30) hit eight doubles, matching its franchise record since moving to the West Coast in 1958.
Perhaps more than anything, the Giants’ deep lineup grinded the Rockies’ pitching staff down. They forced starter Dinelson Lamet out of the game after three innings and 83 pitches. Before the fourth inning ended, San Francisco had faced 100 pitches.
In those four innings, the Giants put up three runs. Given their activity on the basepaths, that might have been a disappointing outcome.
Since May 15, the Giants have ranked in the top five in batting average with runners in scoring position. But they left the bases loaded in the second and fourth innings.
The Rockies cut into San Francisco’s lead with a run off Sean Manaea, but the Giants offense countered with their biggest inning of the night.
Mike Yastrzemski walked and Bailey came inches away from a home run. The rookie’s second double of the day left his bat at 106.5 mph and would been a homer at 25 of 30 ballparks. Instead, both hitters scored on a Wade single up the middle.
Then Wade and Joc Pederson, in his first game back from the IL, rounded home on a scorched double by J.D. Davis. That center-field line drive had a 107.9 mph exit velocity — the hardest-hit ball by the Giants on the night.
In the dugout, Pederson gave high-fives with one hand and held a canister of oxygen in the other. Scoring from first, particularly in Coors Field oxygen, isn’t the designated hitter’s comfort zone.
Michael Conforto kept the rally going with a single up the middle to score Davis. All three of those hits came with two outs. Once the Giants retook the field, they’d scored five runs to earn an 8-1 lead.
San Francisco later added two more runs. Estrada, in his first game back from the IL just like Pederson, went 3-for-5 with a run and RBI.
The Rockies scored four runs on Sean Manaea, who took down the bulk of the game out of SF’s bullpen. Although the lefty’s ERA now stands at 6.10, his 4.2 innings with a healthy lead preserved most of SF’s leverage arms.
Bullpen games can be tough in Coors Field. In altitude, the margin for error is slimmer. If a reliever doesn’t have his best stuff, it can look even worse in Denver. Innings spiral quicker.
The Giants’ offensive eruption made an all-staff game not just possible, but palatable.