Giants 10-3, Rockies 8-5
DENVER -- David Hale will head back to Triple-A Albuquerque knowing he impressed the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night.
Hale pitched into the seventh inning in his Rockies debut and Daniel Descalso hit a rare home run as Colorado beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3 to split their day-night doubleheader.
The Rockies added Hale to their roster as the 26th player for the twin bill. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, just the eighth time a Colorado starter has lasted into the seventh this year.
Descalso, starting the second game at shortstop, hit a two-run homer in the sixth against Giants starter Yusmeiro Petit with the score tied at 2. It was the second homer of the season for Descalso, who stepped to the plate with 11 career home runs in 1,437 plate appearances.
The Giants won the first game of the doubleheader 10-8, scoring all their runs with two outs. First baseman Brandon Belt, right fielder Hunter Pence and shortstop Brandon Crawford, the 4-5-6 hitters, combined to go 6-for-15 with seven RBIs and four runs.
After the Giants scored 16 consecutive runs with two outs in the series, the Rockies gave them a taste of their own medicine when Descalso connected with two outs for his homer. He lofted a first-pitch change-up from Petit (1-1) into the right-field stands to give the Rockies a 4-2 lead.
That proved to be the final inning for Petit, who was making a spot start after 13 relief appearances to begin the season.
Hale (1-0) gave up an opposite-field bloop single to center fielder Gregor Blanco to open the seventh. He retired the next two batters, but Pence hit a pinch-single to right. Blanco dashed to third on the play and scored to make it 4-3.
Brooks Brown, who was activated from the disabled list before the doubleheader, relieved Hale. Making his first appearance for the Rockies since May 3, Brown ended the inning by getting left fielder Nori Aoki to fly out.
In the seventh, the Giants elected to intentionally walk right fielder Carlos Gonzalez so left-hander Jeremy Affeldt could pitch to left-handed-hitting Ben Paulsen with two outs and second baseman DJ LeMahieu, who had drawn a one-out walk, on third. But the strategy backfired when Paulsen lined a run-scoring single to center to give the Rockies a 5-3 lead.
John Axford gave up a leadoff single in the ninth to center fielder Gregor Blanco, who stole second. Pinch-hitter Angel Pagan flied to center fielder Charlie Blackmon, who threw out Blanco as he tried to advance to third standing up.
Descalso made an error on third baseman Casey McGehee's grounder. But Axford got Pence to ground into a game-ending force play to post his sixth save.
The Giants continued their two-out success when Aoki tied the score at 2 with a single in the fifth, making it 16 straight runs scored by the Giants with two outs since the ninth inning on Friday night.
On Aoki's hit, third baseman Casey McGehee tried to score from second ahead of Gonzalez's throw. Home plate umpire Paul Nauert called Aoki safe, but the Rockies challenged and the call was overturned.
A two-run fourth gave the Rockies a 2-1 lead. Left fielder Brandon Barnes tied the score with an RBI double and Descalso's groundout drove in the go-ahead run.
In the second, Crawford doubled with one out, took third on a groundout and scored on Hale's wild pitch.
NOTES: Giants RF Hunter Pence went 2-for-5 in the first game to extend his hitting streak against the Rockies to 18 straight games, matching Barry Bonds for the longest hitting streak against the Rockies by a Giants player. ... The start of the second game, which is the makeup of a rainout on April 26, was delayed 58 minutes by rain. ... RHP David Hale, who made his Rockies debut as the starter in the second, last started a game in the majors on Sept. 25, 2014, for Atlanta. ... Giants C Buster Posey, who didn't play in the first game, extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a sixth-inning single in the second game. ... Pence has a 19-game hitting streak against the Rockies, the longest all time against them by a Giants player.