SAN FRANCISCO — Landen Roupp could only keep his opponents in the ballpark for so long.
In the fourth, he allowed a 410-foot triple to Troy Johnston. In the fifth, he surrendered a 413-foot double to Brett Sullivan. Johnston and Sullivan challenged Triples Alley, but on both occasions, Oracle Park’s spacious dimensions and San Francisco’s cold weather kept those balls in the ballpark.
Zac Veen set his sights on a different target. Roupp spun him a curveball in the sixth, and Veen launched it to Mission Bay. There was no ambiguity; this ball was destined for McCovey Cove the moment it left the bat, the 69th Splash Hit by an opponent in this ballpark’s history. When Roupp was pulled later that inning, he sat on the bench with a towel draped over his head, the universal sign of agony.
Roupp endured another uneven start as the Giants lost 5-2 to the Colorado Rockies on Friday night, allowing four runs, three walks and a homer over 5 2/3 innings. In taking the loss, Roupp is tied with the Baltimore Orioles’ Shane Baz and the Cleveland Guardians’ Tanner Bibee for the most defeats (12) in the majors.
Roupp was completely and thoroughly outdueled by the Rockies’ Kyle Freeland, who pitched eight innings of one-run ball. For Freeland, this outing was the longest of his 30 career starts against the Giants.
The only run that Freeland allowed was a solo home run to rookie Bryce Eldridge, his 13th homer of the season and his second in his last three games. Eldridge has been struggling since the calendar flipped to July, but his last two homers might be the swings that get him going.
Fellow rookie Trent Harris also impressed on Friday night, pitching a scoreless eighth inning and striking out three batters, the first three punchouts of his career.
The Giants started to surge in the bottom of the ninth when Jonah Cox hit a leadoff triple, then scored on a double by Rafael Devers. That momentum was sapped when center fielder Cole Carrigg made a diving catch to rob Eldridge of a hit, then doubled off Devers at second.