DENVER — The surging San Francisco Giants open a three-game series Monday at Coors Field Darius Leonard Jersey , where they have fared poorly. But ace left-hander Madison Bumgarner, who is in vintage form, will start against the Colorado Rockies in a sequel of sorts.
Bumgarner (1-2, 2.51) and Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland (7-6, 3.29), who has been the Rockies’ best starter, opposed each other Wednesday at AT&T Park. Both starters pitched seven scoreless innings before the Giants won 1-0 on Brandon Crawford’s walk-off homer.
The Giants have lost 12 of their past 14 games at Coors Field. But they began their current road trip by sweeping three games at Arizona — their first sweep at Chase Field since September 2016 — giving the Giants (45-40) 10 wins in their past 12 games.
The Giants are 19-26 on the road, which is the second-worst road record in the National League. But they have won eight of their past 14 road games.
The Giants are tied for second in the NL West with the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks. That is the closest the Giants have been to first place since June 10, when they were also 2 1/2 games behind.
The Giants got strong starts from Andrew Suarez and Dereck Rodriguez while beating the Diamondbacks 2-1 and 7-0 and overcame a poor start by Derek Holland to win the series finale, 9-6.
“These are big games for us, for sure,” Giants catcher Buster Posey said after Saturday’s win. “I think we all collectively know we’ve got to play better on the road. … We go to Denver, where we haven’t played well the past couple of years. It’s a matter of keeping our focus and executing.”
Bumgarner’s execution has been uncommonly good lately.
He has a string of 16 consecutive scoreless innings dating back to June 16 against the Dodgers at Los Angeles. He then worked eight scoreless innings June 21 against San Diego and limited the Rockies to two hits Wednesday in seven innings.
That gave Bumgarner back-to-back scoreless outings of at least seven innings for the first time in his career. In 27 starts in his career, Bumgarner is 12-7 with a 2.92 ERA against the Rockies.
At Coors Field, he is 5-5 with an ERA of 4.00 in 13 starts. He hasn’t pitched in Colorado since 2016.
This is the second season in the majors for Freeland Jaire Alexander Color Rush Jersey , who is 4-2 with an ERA of 2.61 in seven starts against the Giants. He’s 2-0 in three starts against them this year.
Freeland has allowed three or fewer runs in 11 starts and four runs in the other. In six starts at Coors Field this year, Freeland is 4-2, 2.95.
Freeland held the Giants to four singles Wednesday, and registered 12 ground-ball outs.
Bumgarner gave up a single and a double, allowed one runner to reach third base and struck out eight (six swinging). Freeland threw 104 pitches, 67 for strikes. Bumgarner finished with 101 pitches, 66 strikes.
“It was a great matchup between two lefties, one just starting his career and getting his feet on the ground, and Bumgarner obviously we know what he’s done in his career,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “It was impressive from Kyle in terms of the changeup usage, keeping the ball down, enough inside to keep the righties honest, changing speeds, sinking the ball.”
The Rockies (41-43) dropped two of three at San Francisco but then won two of three at Los Angeles, ending a 3-3 road trip with a 6-4 loss Sunday that kept them six games behind Arizona.
The Rockies are 26-21 on the road, but their 15-22 home record is the second-worst in the NL.
Luis Severino became the majors’ first 12-game winner Josh Jackson Color Rush Jersey , Aaron Hicks and Didi Gregorius homered and the New York Yankees beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-0 Tuesday night.
Severino (12-2) struck out nine in seven dominant innings, lowering his ERA to 2.10. The ace has allowed three runs or less in 16 of 17 starts.
Jake Arrieta (5-6) had another rough outing for Philadelphia, which had won four consecutive series before losing two straight to the Yankees. Arrieta gave up six runs – three earned – and nine hits in five innings.
Arrieta was 0-4 with a 6.66 ERA in five starts in June after posting a 0.90 ERA in five starts last month.
RAYS 1, NATIONALS 0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) – Nathan Eovaldi took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before an unusual combination of relievers in the ninth completed a three-hitter as the Rays beat Max Scherzer and the Nationals.
Eovaldi (2-3) lost his no-hit bid when Bryce Harper hit an opposite-field double off the left-field wall with two outs in the sixth.
Rays lefty Jose Alvarado began the ninth by walking Harper before moving to first base when Chaz Roe relieved him. Roe struck out Anthony Rendon before Alvarado returned to the mound and gave up singles to lefties Juan Soto and Daniel Murphy that loaded the bases.
Sergio Romo replaced Alvarado and got his sixth save.
Scherzer (10-4) gave up one run, four hits, three walks and struck out four in seven innings.
CARDINALS 11, INDIANS 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Matt Carpenter homered twice, matched a career best with five hits and helped chase Corey Kluber in the shortest start of the right-hander’s career. Carpenter scored a career-best five runs and also drove in three.
Kluber (11-4) allowed six runs in 1 2/3 innings and has lost two of his past three decisions. He gave up six hits, including homers to Carpenter and Jose Martinez, and walked one on 48 pitches.
Prior to Tuesday, Kluber’s shortest start had been two innings against the Tampa Bay Rays in 2013. His previous low this year was a five-inning game on June 15 against Minnesota when he took his third loss of the season.
Carlos Martinez (4-4) settled down after a rough first inning for his first victory since May 2. He had lost three straight decisions over his previous five starts. He went six innings, allowing two runs, six hits and a walk while striking out eight.
RED SOX 9, ANGELS 1
BOSTON (AP) – Mookie Betts homered on John Lamb’s first pitch of the game, and J.D. Martinez hit his major league-leading 24th home run to back David Price’s six strong innings.
Jackie Bradley Jr. had four RBIs and three hits Taven Bryan Color Rush Jersey , including a home run, and Christian Vazquez also homered to help Boston win for the fourth time in its last five games.
Price (9-5) allowed five hits, including a solo homer to Chris Young, and two walks while striking out seven to send Los Angeles to its fourth straight loss.
Lamb (0-1) got just five outs. He allowed five runs, three earned, on six hits and a pair of walks.
CUBS 9, DODGERS 4
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Javier Baez hit two home runs, including a grand slam, Jon Lester won his sixth consecutive start and Chicago ended a five-game losing streak.
Baez homered in consecutive innings, giving him 16 on the season, and finished with four hits.
Ross Stripling (6-3) gave up just one run over five innings before the Cubs broke open the game with six runs off the bullpen. The Dodgers lost for just the sixth time in 22 games in June.
Lester (10-2) has a 1.73 ERA over his last 11 starts, going back to April 30, and hasn’t lost since May 23. He is tied with Washington’s Max Scherzer for the NL lead in wins.
BREWERS 5, ROYALS 1
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Freddy Peralta pitched one-hit ball over seven scoreless innings, Jesus Aguilar hit one of Milwaukee’s three homers and the Brewers beat the Royals.
Peralta (3-0) allowed a leadoff double in the third to Adalberto Mondesi and also allowed a walk in the second. The 22-year-old rookie was perfect otherwise, striking out 10 in his fourth major league start.
Aguilar Minkah Fitzpatrick Color Rush Jersey , Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun homered off starter Jakob Junis (5-9), who has lost six straight.
Mondesi, called up June 17, hit his first homer this season with two outs in the eighth off Dan Jennings.
PADRES 3, RANGERS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Wil Myers and Hunter Renfroe hit run-scoring doubles in San Diego’s three-run eighth inning, helping the Padres rally for a win over the Rangers.
Shin-Soo Choo singled with two outs in the ninth to extend his major league-leading streak of reaching base to 39 games before Brad Hand got Nomar Mazara to fly out with two runners on for his 22nd save.
Four of six San Diego hitters reached against Jake Diekman (1-1). After Myers ended the Texas shutout, Christian Villanueva lifted a tying sacrifice fly to left before Renfroe’s go-ahead liner.
San Diego relievers struck out five straight batters, starting with the second of two from Matt Strahm (2-2) in the seventh.
ATHLETICS 9, TIGERS 7
DETROIT (AP) – Jed Lowrie drove in the tiebreaking run in the top of the ninth inning for a second straight game, and the Athletics rallied from six runs down to hand the Tigers their seventh straight loss.
Detroit led 6-0 after three innings, but Oakland came back to tie it at 7-all in the seventh. Lowrie singled home Matt Joyce in the ninth for his fourth hit of the night.
Joyce doubled off Shane Greene (2-5) to lead off the ninth. Lowrie also came in to score an insurance run on a single by pinch-hitter Dustin Fowler.