Jose Ureña picked up where Zac Gallen left off.
A day after the Giants were shut out for seven and a third innings by the Diamondbacks starter, they managed just a single run in six and and two-thirds innings while being dominated by the Rockies right-hander.
It was a less predictable performance than Thursday’s, considering Ureña, once a highly touted Marlins prospect, had posted over an eight earned-run-average in his previous five starts.
On Friday, however, Ureña looked like a Cy Young candidate. His location was terrific as was his changeup, eliciting weak contact consistently from Giants hitters. In arguably the livest ballpark in all of baseball, SF managed just three hits and a single run before he was mercifully pulled.
The Giants made a push late, as seems to always happen in Colorado, but the early 7-0 hole wasn’t enough to overcome. San Francisco fell 7-4, their third loss in a row after a five-game winning streak. At 59-60, they’ve fallen back under .500.
Giants starter Alex Wood dealt with command issues all evening, and seemed especially frustrated on the mound as the Rockies (52-69) took him deep three times.
Wood had trouble with slider location and was burned early, when Colorado designated hitter Elehuris Montero smacked a two-run shot to dead center, opening scoring in the second. Wood shook his head in annoyance that seemed to indicate he thought he’d been screwed by the thin air in Denver. He showed more annoyance when he allowed a hit on a better pitch to Brian Serven, tossing his glove with the ball still in play.
Mike Yastrzemski robbed Brendan Rodgers of a hit in the third, saving Wood from another stressful inning.
The near hit was an example of the knife’s edge Wood seemed to be riding all night. Meanwhile, the typically inconsistent Ureña was coasting, not needing to throw more than 12 pitches in any of the first four innings, while only allowing one hit and no walks.
As Ureña breezed, Wood teetered. Former Giant Conner Joe launched a solo shot with two outs in the fourth, longtime minor leaguer Wynton Bernard added another with a double in the fifth and Montero ended Wood’s night later in the inning with his second jack, a three-run shot for his fifth RBI in as many frames.
A seven-run deficit is surmountable at Coors Field, and Joc Pederson gave the Giants some hope for late life with an opposite-field solo shot in the sixth. It was Joc’s first home run since June 25, ending a 37-game homer-less streak.
The best thing to happen to the Giants offense happened with two outs in the seventh, when Rockies manager Bud Black decided to pull Ureña with two outs after he gave up a slap single to Brandon Crawford.
SF didn’t jump Rockies reliever Lucas Gilbreath so much a let him dig his own hole. Gilbreath walked J.D. Davis, then hit Joey Bart on the hand with the bases loaded, allowing a run to score. Austin Slater took advantage, hitting a pinch-hit opposite-field single to give the Giants two more runs.
Unfortunately, that would be the end of the offensive highlights.
Crawford flashed the leather with a magnificent leaping catch in the eighth, but it didn’t provide enough of a spark for any fireworks in the ninth.