SAN FRANCISCO — Through mediocre seasons post-2021, the Giants have at least been able to count on the Colorado Rockies. That’s no longer the case. 

For the first time in a full season since 2018, they lost a season series against the Rockies, and the two now are separated by just one game at the bottom of the NL West — and National League — standings. The last of 13 matchups was ugly and finished with a Coors Field-ish score, with the Rockies winning 13-7. 

The Giants pitching staff walked 10 batters, one short of a season-high, including four in a painful and decisive sixth inning. Through six, the Giants had allowed 10 runs on only five hits. 

The Rockies added on with a late three-run homer en route to just their second series win at Oracle Park since the start of the 2021 season. 

The Giants led the shootout by a run heading into the sixth, and then had what might have been the ugliest inning of the season, which is really, really saying something. 

Sam Hentges walked a pair before handing it over to JT Brubaker, who went wild pitch, walk, walk, hit-by-pitch before giving the ball back to Tony Vitello. Reiver Sanmartin entered and gave up a two-run single to Mickey Moniak, making it a four-run inning that should be put onto a DVD and then burned outside the team plane before it departs for Cleveland. 

As the inning — which also included a crucial missed opportunity to challenge — ended, Jon Miller summed it up neatly. “What a nightmare,” he said on the broadcast. 

Not At His Best

Blade Tidwell impressed in his first two starts this month, but Sunday was a struggle from the beginning. 

Tidwell walked three the first time through the order and gave up three hits, including a three-run homer by Adael Amador, who had just one previous homer in 165 big league at-bats. Following a walk, Tidwell tried to get ahead with a first-pitch fastball but Amador crushed it into the arcade. 

Tidwell ended up going just 4 1/3 innings and walking a career-high five, a theme on the day for the Giants. He was charged with six earned, raising his ERA to 4.33. 

Splash x 2

With two on in the second inning, Rafael Devers unloaded on a 2-2 slider from Gabriel Hughes. He hit it 363 feet into the cove, but the ball curled foul as kayakers scrambled. Two pitches later, Hughes threw a curveball in a similar spot and this one went 380 feet. It also stayed fair. 

The Splash Hit gave the Giants a 5-4 lead and got Devers to 25 homers on the year. It was his second Splash Hit and the second this year by a Giant (Bryce Eldridge hit the first). It also gave the Giants 110 Splash Hits overall, and it’s hard to remember any that came after such an impressive foul ball. 

On The Board

Turner Hill is a former undrafted free agent who never was really on the radar until this season, when he hit .352 in Triple-A. That earned him a promotion this week, and on Sunday he had a memorable moment early on.

Hill yanked a fastball into right field in the third to pick up his first big-league hit and drive in a run. Overall, he’s 1-for-6 with a walk and two RBI through two big-league games.

The Giants want to take a look at Hill down the stretch to see if his bat control can carry over to the big leagues, although he might not get much time on the upcoming trip. They’re scheduled to face at least three lefties in Cleveland and Boston. 

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