Giants open series against red-hot Rockies

May 17, 2024, 7:09 AM | Updated: 7:09 am

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 26: Kyle Harrison #45 of the San Francisco Giants pitches in the ...

(Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

Sactown Sports

Two teams that walked away as winners the last time they met hook up again when the Colorado Rockies visit the San Francisco Giants for a three-game series that kicks off Friday night.

The Giants took two of three in Colorado last Tuesday through Thursday, but the Rockies responded to defeats of 5-0 and 8-6 with a 9-1 drubbing in the series finale.

Colorado has used Thursday’s win over San Francisco as the springboard to seven straight victories. The Rockies swept the Texas Rangers in three games at home last weekend before beginning a nine-game California tour with a three-game whitewashing of the San Diego Padres earlier this week.

Seven different batters have hit .300 or better throughout Colorado’s winning streak, during which the Rockies have scored 6.2 runs per game. Elehuris Montero has led the way with a .368 average, while Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle have hit two home runs apiece and Charlie Blackmon has tallied seven RBIs.

First career home run for Beck ✅ pic.twitter.com/oFY8VEYOzO

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) May 15, 2024

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But the individual highlight of the week didn’t belong to any of the aforementioned quartet. Rather, it was rookie Jordan Beck’s first major league home run, which came in Wednesday’s 8-0 romp over the Padres.

“That’s definitely something you dream of,” the 23-year-old said, “and hope you can do a bunch more times.”

Beck, the 38th overall pick of the 2022 draft, has hit .304 with six RBIs during the streak. He went 2-for-11 last week against the Giants.

That included going 0-for-3 last Tuesday when San Francisco left-hander Kyle Harrison (3-1, 3.42 ERA) shut out Colorado on four hits over seven innings in the series-opening win.

The 22-year-old is unbeaten in his last seven starts, going 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA. He received a no-decision in the Giants’ 6-5 win over the Reds on Sunday.

Harrison has faced the Rockies twice in his career, going 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA.

San Francisco followed its series win last week in Colorado by taking two of three at home last weekend against the Cincinnati Reds. The Giants have rebounded to win five of their last nine games after losing six of seven.

They will be riding the momentum of Wednesday’s sweep-preventing, 4-1 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers. Mike Yastrzemski homered for San Francisco in the win.

YAZ BLAST 💥 pic.twitter.com/goZe95jBuf

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) May 16, 2024

“We were kind of embarrassed with how we played the first two games,” winning pitcher Logan Webb said of the series-opening losses to the Dodgers. “… There’s not many much-needed wins early on in the season; I thought (Wednesday) was a much-needed win.”

Yastrzemski, who has taken over the leadoff role in the absence of injured Jung Hoo Lee, contributed a single, double and triple to the Giants’ two wins in Colorado last week before going 0-for-3 in the series finale.

San Francisco didn’t face right-hander Ryan Feltner (1-3, 5.20) in Colorado. The Rockies’ scheduled starter allowed two runs in six innings in Saturday’s 8-3 win over the Rangers.

The 27-year-old has made two previous starts in his career against the Giants, going 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA.

–Field Level Media