Giants blow three-run lead in ninth inning of loss to Rockies
There is truly no such thing as a safe lead at Coors Field. In his first game managing in the Mile High City, Giants rookie manager Tony Vitello learned that reality the hard way.
The Giants suffered a devastating 8-6 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Friday night as right-hander Caleb Kilian allowed both the game-tying home run to Hunter Goodman and the walk-off homer to Ezequiel Tovar.
The bottom of the ninth inning began on an ominous note for San Francisco (22-35) when Jake McCarthy led off the inning with a single on a grounder that bounced off first base. Following a single by Tyler Freeman, Goodman blasted a no-doubt three-run home run to tie the game at six apiece.
Three batters after the Giants lost the lead, they lost the game entirely. Kilian got the second out of the inning by recording a strikeout, but Willi Castro’s two-out single set the table for Tovar, who homered off Keaton Winn in the bottom of the eighth. Tovar ambushed Kilian’s first offering, pulling a two-run homer over the left-field fence to hand the Giants their fourth straight loss.
Kilian’s blown save spoiled what had been a sensational all-around game by right fielder Jung Hoo Lee, who returned from the injured list on Friday along with Logan Webb. Lee tallied four hits, two runs scored, three singles, a double and a pair of run-saving catches.
Two-time All-Star Logan Webb, who also returned from the injured list on Friday, was so-so in his first start since May 5. Over 4 1/3 innings, Webb allowed one earned run with five strikeouts to three walks.
Lee made his first impressive catch of the evening with two outs and a runner on third in the bottom of the fourth. The Rockies’ Kyle Karros hit an opposite-field line drive that carried to the right-field warning track, but Lee tracked down the potential extra-base hit on the run, then crashed into the chain-link portion of the fence. Lee winced as he jogged back to the dugout, rubbing his ribs in a circular motion.
The following inning, Lee made an even more difficult catch with runners in scoring position to prevent the Rockies from scoring. With two on and two out, Colorado’s Troy Johnston hit a line drive off left-hander Matt Gage right in Lee’s direction.
Lee didn’t have to travel that far to get to the ball, but he appeared to lose the ball in the lights and went into a defensive slide. As Lee hit the grass, he extended his left arm and somehow made the inning-ending catch. Back in the dugout, Gage gave Lee a big hug in appreciation of his efforts.
Rookie Bryce Eldridge had an impressive night in his first career game at Coors Field, hitting an opposite-field double and drawing a pair of walks. First baseman Rafael Devers reached base three times with two hits and a walk, driving in a run in the top of the ninth with his first triple since July 28, 2024.
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