Rockies 2, Giants 1
DENVER - Back-to-back solo home runs in the first proved to be enough run support Friday night for Colorado starter Jorge De La Rosa. He stymied the floundering San Francisco Giants, as the Rockies won 2-1.
Carlos Gonzalez hit his 36th homer, and one pitch later, Nolan Arenado belted his 35th. Those were the only runs Giants starter Chris Heston (11-9) allowed in 5 2/3 innings. But De La Rosa (9-6) was better. He limited San Francisco to one run in seven innings, allowing six hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.
The win was the third straight for the Rockies, one short of their season-best winning streak. They have won four straight games four times this season and last did it July 9-12 with a four-game sweep of the visiting Atlanta Braves leading into the All-Star break.
The Rockies have won five of their past seven games, their best stretch since the break. The Giants have lost seven straight games and 10 of their past 13. During their seven-game skid, they have scored 15 runs and hit one homer - by pitcher Ryan Vogelsong, the first of his career, on Thursday.
San Francisco's power outage has been even more severe. The Giants have hit just seven homers in their past 18 games. Their top four home run hitters this season - shortstop Brandon Crawford with 19 homers, first baseman Brandon Belt (17), catcher Buster Posey (16) and third baseman Matt Duffy (10) - have combined for 350 at-bats since one of those four last homered.
De La Rosa's streak of 12 consecutive scoreless innings ended when the Giants broke through in the sixth. Left fielder Juan Perez flared a leadoff single to center, was sacrificed to second and scored on center fielder Angel Pagan's single make it 2-1.
The Giants had a chance to make it a bigger inning. Duffy fouled off five straight pitches before lining an opposite-field single to right. After De La Rosa struck out Belt, he hit Posey with a pitch to load the bases but struck out right fielder Marlon Byrd to end the inning.
Jairo Diaz and Boone Logan took care of the eighth for the Rockies. Closer John Axford worked the ninth and earned his 19th save. He gave up a one-out infield hit to Byrd, who chopped a slow roller and just beat third baseman Arenado's throw. But Axford got Crawford to ground into a game-ending double play.
Back-to-back home runs by Gonzalez and Arenado on consecutive pitches gave the Rockies a 2-0 lead in the first. Right fielder Gonzalez hit a long drive down the right field that was called foul. The call was upheld after a crew-chief review, not that it mattered to Gonzalez. He drove Heston's next pitch to right-center for his 36th homer.
Gonzalez leads the National League in that category, and third baseman Arenado stayed right on his heels when he belted Heston's first pitch into the left-field stands. Arenado joins Larry Walker in 1999 and Dante Bichette in 1995 as the only players in Rockies history to homer in five consecutive games and is the third player in the majors to accomplish that feat this season.
The others are Seattle's Nelson Cruz, who has done it twice, and Joc Pederson of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
De La Rosa retired the first nine Giants batters he faced before center fielder Angel Pagan singled. He was erased on a double play, and De La Rosa got Belt to ground out, having faced the minimum number of batters through the fourth. A leadoff double by catcher Posey was the only other hit De La Rosa allowed in five scoreless innings.
Heston issued back-to-back walks to load the bases with two outs in the fourth but struck out De La Rosa to end the inning.
NOTES: Rockies 1B Justin Morneau (concussion symptoms) was activated from the 60-day disabled list and was in the lineup for the first time since May 13. ... Rockies OF/1B Matt McBride was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for Morneau. The Rockies selected McBride's contract from Triple-A Albuquerque on Aug. 12, and he hit .167 (7-for-42) in 20 games, including nine starts. ... Rockies INF Rafael Ynoa was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque to begin his third stint with the Rockies. He began the season with the Rockies and hit .225 in 51 games. ... Rockies LF Corey Dickerson (fractured ribs) is scheduled to play five innings in the field for Triple-A Albuquerque after serving as the designated hitter in his first two rehab games. ... Giants SS Brandon Crawford was back in the lineup Friday after missing the past three games due to a swollen left calf, the result of getting hit with a pitch Monday night. ... Giants RHP Matt Cain (elbow nerve irritation) began a rehab assignment at Triple-A Sacramento and was scheduled to throw 35 pitches out of the bullpen Friday night. ... Giants RHP Ryan Vogelsong, 38, on Thursday became the oldest Giants pitcher to homer since 41-year-old Steve Carlton on July 21, 1986.