DENVER — It took until the last game of the series at Coors Field this weekend before a lead changed hands, almost unheard of in the mile-high ballpark that practically births chaos.
In the end, it didn’t go in the Giants’ favor.
Kyle Karros jacked a mammoth three-run homer in the eighth inning that flipped a two-run Giants advantage into a 7-6 defeat, sending them to their second series loss in as many tries against the lowly Rockies, one of two National League teams below them in the standings.
Against the two teams on either side of them in the NL West, the Giants went 2-4 and dropped both series on this road trip against Colorado and the Diamondbacks.
“It’s pretty bittersweet,” manager Tony Vitello said. “Because you could flip the script pretty much with just one game. It didn’t start off very well. We had a game in there we didn’t play good baseball at all. … We had some things to celebrate with the All-Star [selections], guys have spoken up and said good words.
“But ultimately, unfortunately that scoreboard dictates a lot in your life when you’re doing this.”
The Giants slugged four home runs, including two from Rafael Devers to claim the team lead with 18, but Karros got the last laugh.
The go-ahead blast landed 471 feet away, at the very top of the left field bleachers, and marked only the second time Colorado scored against the Giants’ bullpen over the final two games of the series.
It came against Dylan Smith, the seventh reliever summoned the past two days by Vitello and the first who wasn’t able to get the job done. Smith had a 1.69 ERA in 12 previous appearances.
He struck out the Rockies’ biggest threat, Hunter Goodman, to begin the eighth and got two strikes on the next batter, T.J. Rumfield. But the rookie went the opposite way to sneak a double down the left field line, and nothing went right from then on.
Smith hit Troy Johnston with his next pitch and fell behind 3-1 to Karros. He attacked him high and inside, and Karros was waiting for it.
Before Smith, the Giants’ bullpen had limited the Rockies to just one run over seven innings the past two games. But the dam burst, souring the flight back to San Francisco.
“You kind of feel like six [runs] can get it done,” Vitello said.
In addition to Devers’ second multi-homer game of the season, Casey Schmitt slugged his 17th and Drew Gilbert added one among his four hits to match a career high, finishing a triple away from the cycle.
Devers’ second homer reached the third deck, a 463-foot blast that was the second longest of his career.
“That’s probably the furthest ball I’ve ever seen hit,” Schmitt admired.
The power show from Devers and Schmitt made them the first pair of Giants teammates with at least 17 home runs in their first 90 games since Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent in 2000.
“I didn’t know about that,” Schmitt said. “But that’s cool to know that’s a thing. … I’m not really trying to go out there and hit homers. I’m just trying to hit line drives, and if I catch it, I catch it.”
Schmitt wasn’t the only to get ahold of one, but it was all for naught once things went south in the bottom of the eighth. The loss was the Giants’ seventh in 41 games when leading after seven innings.
What it means
The Giants lost for the 10th time in Tyler Mahle’s 14 starts.
While it was Smith who took the loss, Mahle didn’t do them any favors by failing to complete five innings for the second straight start and surrendering four runs on eight hits.
Who’s hot
Vitello didn’t like the way Gilbert handled himself the last time he was in the Giants’ starting lineup, four games ago, in Wednesday’s loss to the Diamondbacks.
The manager thought his former star at the University of Tennessee allowed his pop-out in the ninth inning of a 5-4 loss the night before to affect his play the following day.
So, he sat him down.
“This is a game of many, many reps,” Vitello said then. “The best guys can separate them and be ready for the next pitch.”
In his return to the starting lineup Sunday, Gilbert made a statement. He was ready for the next pitch. He sent the fourth one he saw soaring into the bullpen beyond right field.
He didn’t stop there, finishing 4-for-4 in the second four-hit game of his career.
“He just really gets charged up,” Vitello said after the game. “It’s a matter of managing that, being aggressive and intense but also being under control. I think the home run came because with two strikes, he was under control and just shortened up a little bit.”
In 12 games against Colorado, Gilbert is batting .480 (12-for-25) with seven extra-base hits, including four of his seven career home runs — a 1.656 OPS.
In 97 career games against any other team, he has 49 hits in 248 at-bats (a .197 average), with only 17 going for extra bases, resulting in .513 OPS.
Vitello left him in against left-handed reliever Brennan Bernardino in the sixth, too, and Gilbert ripped a two-strike fastball up the middle for his first hit in 24 tries this season without the platoon advantage. It was his third career hit in 42 at-bats against left-handed pitching.
“For him to get his first hit off a left-handed pitcher, in particular a guy throwing sidearm,” Vitello said, “it spoke a lot to where his focus is at.”
Who’s not
Mahle’s outing couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start.
He was called for a pitch-clock violation before he had thrown a pitch, putting him in a 1-0 hole against Jake McCarthy, and the speedy outfielder laced a triple on the first pitch he saw.
It mirrored the way his last start began, serving up a home run to the leadoff man, and the rest played out in about the same underwhelming fashion.
Since tossing 5 ⅔ shutout innings in his return to the rotation, Mahle hasn’t made it through the fifth in either of his ensuing starts. He has surrendered eight runs (seven earned) over 8 ⅔ innings between the two starts, raising his season ERA to 5.70.
“I still feel good with where I’m at,” Mahle said. “It doesn’t look good on the box score, but I felt like I battled, felt like I made some good pitches and started to settle in. That’s life.”
Mahle was solely responsible for the one unearned run on his line, too, making a questionable decision to attempt a pick off at first base with two strikes, two outs and a runner at third. He airmailed the throw past Devers, allowing the second run of the first inning to score.
Up next
The Giants return home and continue a stretch of 13 straight games leading into the All-Star break. They host Tyler Rogers and the Blue Jays for three games beginning Monday, which will feature another familiar face on the mound: Kevin Gausman (4-7, 4.19).
Landen Roupp (5-8, 4.55) gets the ball for San Francisco in the series opener. First pitch: 6:45 PT.
