Robbie Ray drew Sean Sullivan for the rematch, first pitch set for 6:10 PM MT, and the gap in resumes could hardly have been starker heading in.
Colorado's pitching staff took a fresh hit Saturday, placing both starter Tomoyuki Sugano and reliever Seth Halvorsen on the 15-day IL, thinning out a group already leaning hard on Sullivan. San Francisco is banged up too — Matt Chapman, Harrison Bader and Daniel Susac are all out — but Ray gave the Giants exactly the kind of stabilizing arm they needed. The market had drifted toward Colorado before first pitch, for what it's worth.
None of that mattered once the game actually started. San Francisco jumped on Sullivan immediately and never let go, banking 4 runs before Colorado had much of anything going.
It was a stunning reversal from earlier in the day, when the Rockies hung a 15-3 beatdown on this same Giants team. Hunter Goodman and Mickey Moniak had been the story of Colorado's turnaround all week, powering a 3-2 stretch over their last five games, but Ray made sure that bat flurry didn't carry into the nightcap. He'd gone 8 shutout innings on 95 pitches his last time out against Atlanta, and while this line wasn't nearly as clean, San Francisco's offense picked up the slack with 14 hits.
Neither of these teams is playing October baseball, but nights like this are why the series still had juice. Colorado still salvaged a split thanks to the day-game rout, and Sullivan gets another shot to prove his 9.28 ERA is an aberration. San Francisco, meanwhile, will need plenty more of this kind of resilience if this brutal stretch is going to turn into anything else.
Both rosters are bruised right now, which makes bounce-back nights like this even harder to pull off.
- 10-Day-ILMatt Chapman 3B — Chapman was diagnosed with an abdominal muscle strain following his removal from Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
- 10-Day-ILHarrison Bader CF — Bader (foot) will start his hitting and throwing progressions later this week, Evan Webeck of the California Post reports.
- 10-Day-ILDaniel Susac C — The Giants placed Susac on the 10-day injured list Friday with a lower-back strain, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.
- 15-Day-ILMatt Gage RP — The Giants placed Gage on the 15-day IL on Saturday due to a left elbow strain, Justice delos Santos of The San Jose Mercury News reports.
- 15-Day-ILKeaton Winn RP — Winn (elbow) completed a 25-pitch bullpen Monday, Evan Webeck of the California Post reports.
- 60-Day-ILJoel Peguero RP — Peguero (hamstring) threw 30 pitches during a bullpen session Monday, Evan Webeck of the California Post reports.
- 60-Day-ILJason Foley RP — Foley (shoulder) struck out two over a scoreless inning in a rehab appearance with Triple-A Sacramento on Friday.
- 60-Day-ILRowan Wick RP — The Giants placed Wick (elbow) on the 60-day injured list Sunday, Justice delos Santos of The San Jose Mercury News reports.
- 10-Day-ILBrenton Doyle CF — Doyle (oblique/groin) is expected to resume his rehab assignment at Triple-A Albuquerque on Friday, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILSeth Halvorsen RP — The Rockies placed Halvorsen on the 15-day injured list Saturday, retroactive to July 1, due to right shoulder inflammation.
- 15-Day-ILTomoyuki Sugano SP — Colorado placed Sugano (back) on the 15-day injured list Saturday, retroactive to July 1.
- 15-Day-ILBlas Castano RP — Castano (pectoral) is expected to begin a throwing program next week, MLB.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILJaden Hill RP — Hill (shoulder) resumed playing catch Wednesday, MLB.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILChase Dollander SP — Dollander underwent an internal brace procedure on his right elbow Monday, Kevin Henry of The Denver Gazette reports.
- 60-Day-ILWelinton Herrera RP — Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer announced Monday that Herrera (elbow) has been diagnosed with a torn UCL and will miss the remainder of the season, Jack Janes of MLB.com reports.
- 60-Day-ILMcCade Brown SP — Brown (shoulder) had been scheduled to throw a live bullpen session this weekend, MLB.com reports.