Charlie Blackmon has seen the Colorado Rockies experience a lot of tough moments against the San Francisco Giants over the past few seasons, so he was happy to take matters into his own hands on Tuesday.
The 35-year-old Blackmon was the hero with a go-ahead, three-run homer and will attempt to lead the Rockies to another win over the host Giants on Wednesday night in the middle contest of a three-game series.
The left-handed-hitting Blackmon came off the bench in the sixth inning to hit a pinch-hit blast into McCovey Cove off Giants southpaw Jose Alvarez to pave the way for a 5-3 win.
The victory was Colorado’s second straight against the Giants after losing the previous 12 meetings, including the first five of this season.
Furthermore, it marked just the sixth time the Rockies defeated San Francisco in 26 matchups since the start of the 2021 season.
The homer was the 200th of Blackmon’s career. He is the seventh player in franchise history to reach the milestone.
“It was just really cool to come up in that spot,” Blackmon said in a postgame television interview. “Pinch hit off the bench, kind of cold with the lefty, tight game. It was a really cool memorable spot to do it.”
Blackmon wasn’t the only Colorado standout. Connor Joe led off the game with a homer while reaching base three times on two hits and a walk. Joe has reached safely in his past 33 games, the second-longest streak in the majors.
His streak is the longest by a Colorado player since DJ LeMahieu reached in 38 straight games in 2016.
The victory also snapped a four-game slide and was just the eighth in the past 28 games for the Rockies.
San Francisco has lost 11 of its past 18 games and could play without three-time All-Star shortstop Brandon Crawford on Wednesday.
Crawford departed in the bottom of the fifth inning on Tuesday with right quadriceps tightness. Giants manager Gabe Kapler said afterward that Crawford’s availability will be determined Wednesday.
Crawford said he also is dealing with a sinus infection. He said he felt discomfort in the quad while running to first base when he grounded out in the first inning.
“It wasn’t getting any better as the game went on,” Crawford told reporters. “I mentioned it to the trainers, and we collectively decided to get me out of there.”
San Francisco left-hander Alex Wood (3-5, 4.66 ERA) will oppose Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela (2-3, 5.40) for the third time this season.
The 31-year-old Wood beat the Rockies on May 10 when he allowed one unearned run and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings in San Francisco. He started against Colorado six days later in Denver and received a no-decision while allowing three runs and six hits in 4 1/3 innings.
Wood has since dropped three straight starts, allowing 10 runs in 14 innings for a 6.43 ERA during the stretch. He gave up two runs and four hits over 5 1/3 innings in a road loss to the Miami Marlins last Thursday.
Wood is 7-3 with a 5.36 ERA in 21 appearances (18 starts) vs. the Rockies. Blackmon is 14-for-33 with eight RBIs against him.
The struggling Senzatela has allowed 61 hits in just 35 innings.
The 27-year-old sustained a lower back strain in his May 16 start against San Francisco and exited after two scoreless innings. Six days earlier, he was roughed up for five runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings by the Giants in defeat.
He returned from his back injury on June 1 and gave up six runs and 13 hits in 5 1/3 innings while losing to the Miami Marlins.
Senzatela is 5-2 with a 4.61 ERA in 12 career appearances (10 starts) against the Giants. He has consistently handled Crawford (3-for-22).
–Field Level Media