Freeland Goes 6 to Win 3rd Straight, Rockies Top Giants 4-1
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Kyle Freeland pitched six strong innings to win his third straight start, C.J. Cron hit his 19th home run and the Colorado Rockies got a rare road win, beating San Francisco 4-1 on Saturday night to end the Giants' six-game winning streak.
Brendan Rodgers singled to extend his hitting streak to 16 games for Colorado. Trevor Story doubled twice and scored two runs.
The Rockies had lost five straight away from home and were 13-44 on the road before Freeland and two relievers held down the Giants.
"I feel really good where I'm at with my mechanics, my pitch mix and doing our thing out there every five days," Freeland said. "Right from the get-go I felt like I had everything working for me."
Freeland (4-6) won only one of his first 12 starts before rolling off three consecutive victories, all in August. The lefty had six strikeouts and allowed five hits and one run to earn his seventh career win against San Francisco — his most against any team.
"The old saying, this is a game of adjustments, and Kyle has lived it," Rockies manager Bud Black said. "Four pitches, any time, any count, any part of the game. He pitched great and there wasn't a ton of hard contact on him."
Colorado's defense backed the pitching with double plays in three consecutive innings.
Jhoulys Chacín retired six batters, and Daniel Bard worked the ninth for his 19th save.
Evan Longoria singled and scored in his return to the Giants after missing more than two months with a left shoulder sprain.
"We put together a pretty good lineup against Freeland and he was able to go through that lineup successfully three times," Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. "There's no one thing to point to. I just don't think we played good enough to win tonight's game."
Cron homered off Giants opener Sammy Long leading off the second, then drove in the tiebreaking run against Dominic Leone (2-2) in the sixth on a fielder's choice grounder with the bases loaded.
"At this park you never know if you truly get one, but it felt good," Cron said of his home run. "I hit it low enough to where I think I took the wind out of it."
Second baseman Donovan Solano's fielding error later in the inning allowed Story to score.
Story doubled in the eighth and scored on Ryan McMahon's fielder's choice.
Solano's two-out single off Freeland in the second tied it 1-all.
Long, called up from Triple-A Sacramento to take injured Johnny Cueto's turn in the rotation, had three strikeouts and allowed two hits in two innings.
SF'S WILD WINDS
It's not as bad as Candlestick Park but the winds at Oracle Park can be difficult to navigate, as Cron found out in the second inning. Longoria hit a high popup that initially headed into foul territory near right field before drifting back and falling in fair as Cron gave chase.
Black put part of the blame on second baseman Rodgers, who stopped running toward the ball.
"In this city with this wind and the wind currents and what the ball does, anything in the air is dicey," Black said. "Brendan should not have gave up on that ball, plain and simple. Learning experience for a rookie player."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Rockies: RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez (COVID-19) pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in a rehab start with the club's ACL affiliate on Friday. Gonzalez will throw on the side Sunday before the Rockies determine what's next.
Giants: RHP Jay Jackson was placed on the IL due to vaccine-related reasons. … INF Thairo Estrada was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento.
UP NEXT
Rockies RHP Jon Gray (7-8, 3.85 ERA) beat San Francisco earlier this season with four-hit ball over six innings but is 2-6 lifetime against the Giants.
San Francisco LHP Alex Wood (9-3, 4.22) has made it through six innings twice in his past nine starts.