The Rockies lost their momentum in San Francisco. Again.
Coming off a 4-2 homestand culminating with a 20-7 bombardment of the Red Sox on Wednesday, the Rockies were manhandled by left-hander Kyle Harrison Friday night at Oracle Park.
Harrison allowed one run on one hit over 6 2/3 innings as the Giants routed Colorado 11-4 Friday night at Oracle Park. Harrison matched a career-high with 11 strikeouts.
Harrison got a big assist from sizzling rookie shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald, who launched a pair of two-run homers as he continued his magical July. All told, the Giants hit four home runs.
The Rockies, 14-37 on the road, have lost nine consecutive games at Oracle. Since the start of the 2021 season, they are 5-24 in the City by the Bay.
With left-hander Kyle Freeland on the mound, the Rockies took the field with a puncher’s chance. After all, Freeland came in riding a streak of five consecutive quality starts, during which he posted a 1.95 ERA.
Although Freeland struck out eight and escaped two jams with clutch punchouts, he was tagged for two home runs. Jorge Soler led off the first with a blast to left, and Fitzgerald ripped a two-run homer to left in the fourth. Heliot Ramos and Casey Schmit also tagged Freeland for triples to right-center field.
Freeland got the hook after four innings, charged with six runs on eight hits.
Fitzgerald’s second two-run homer came in the sixth inning off Tyler Kinley, extending the Giants’ lead to 8-1.
Fitzgerald, who homered in five straight games from July 9-23, is riding an eight-game extra-base hit streak, the second-longest by a Giants rookie since 1900. It trails only Hall of Famer Hack Wilson’s nine-game streak in 1924.
Fitzgerald’s overall hitting streak is now at nine games, during which he’s hit .452 (14 for 31).
Plain and simple, Harrison owns the Rockies. He’s 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA and 28 strikeouts. On May 7 at Coors Field, he pitched a career-high seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits in San Francisco’s 5-0 victory.
Powered by a two-run double by Brenton Doyle in the eighth, the Rockies’ hibernating offense woke up late. But it was too little, much too late, especially after Heliot Ramos crushed a three-run homer off reliever Ty Blach in the eighth.
Want more Rockies news? Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis.
Link to original article