Giants score walk-off victory over Rockies
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hunter Pence's sacrifice fly to center field scored pinch runner Orlando Calixte with one out in the ninth inning Tuesday night, allowing the San Francisco Giants to record a 4-3, walk-off victory over the Colorado Rockies.
Pence earlier had a two-run homer and Pablo Sandoval collected three hits for the Giants, who beat the playoff-contending Rockies for the fifth time in eight meetings at AT&T Park this season.
The loss left Colorado (82-69) only one game ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers for the second National League wild card. The St. Louis Cardinals are 3 1/2 games behind the Rockies.
Sandoval opened the ninth against left-hander Chris Rusin (5-1) with his third hit of the night, a slow roller up the third base line.
Ryder Jones then placed a bunt between Rusin and onrushing Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, reaching safely when Rusin's rushed throw pulled DJ LeMahieu off first base. Jones was credited with a hit, which advanced Calixte to second.
Pinch hitter Kelby Tomlinson then singled to right field, loading the bases, before Pence lined a shot to center field that scored Calixte without a throw.
Right-hander Sam Dyson (3-2), the fourth Giants pitcher, got the win after pitching into and out of a ninth-inning jam.
Dyson stranded the potential go-ahead run at second base by getting LeMahieu to ground out with two on and two outs.
The Rockies trailed 3-2 before doubles by Carlos Gonzalez and Gerardo Parra in the eighth inning against Giants reliever Hunter Strickland got them even.
The run allowed was the first by the San Francisco bullpen in 13 1/3 innings.
Pence's homer, his 12th of the season, followed a single by Giants starter Johnny Cueto in the fifth inning and flipped a 2-1 deficit into a one-run lead against Rockies right-hander German Marquez.
Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford joined Sandoval in the multi-hit category for the Giants, who had lost 10 of their previous 15 home games.
Parra and Ian Desmond had two hits apiece for the Rockies, who had won eight of their previous 10 on the road.
Blackmon drove in a pair of runs.
The Giants outhit the Rockies 12-10.
Marquez left for a pinch hitter in the top of the seventh, trailing 3-2. He allowed eight hits and three runs in his six innings, during which he walked one and struck out five.
The pinch hitter, Raimel Tapia, drilled a two-out single off Cueto, ending the veteran's night.
Left-hander Steven Okert came on to retire Blackmon on a fly ball to center field to retain the Giants' one-run lead.
Cueto limited the Rockies to two runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out six.
Blackmon's double came with two outs in the third and gave the Rockies a 2-0 lead. Trevor Story, who had walked, and Desmond, who had singled, scored on the liner to the fence in left-center field.
The hit was Blackmon's 200th of the season. The National League's leading hitter was the first to reach the milestone in 2017.
Sandoval's second hit, a fourth-inning single, drove in Posey.
NOTES: Rockies CF Charlie Blackmon became the eighth player in franchise history to record 200 hits in a season, the first since LF Matt Holliday in 2007. LF Dante Bichette holds the franchise record for hits in a season with 219. ... Rockies 2B DJ LeMahieu's first-inning single was his 29th hit against the Giants this season. It is the most ever for a Colorado player in a season against the Giants, and the most against San Francisco since San Diego Padres RF Tony Gwynn had 30 in 1989. ... The Rockies were playing their fourth of 12 straight games against non-contenders. They are 2-2 in those games.