Major League Baseball
San Francisco 9, Colorado 2
When: 10:08 PM ET, Monday, June 26, 2017
Where: AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
Temperature: 64°
Umpires: Home - Doug Eddings, 1B - Bill Welke, 2B - Stu Scheurwater, 3B - Cory Blaser
Attendance: 41388

SAN FRANCISCO -- Jeff Samardzija pitched so poorly against the Colorado Rockies earlier this season, it didn't matter how many runs his San Francisco Giants teammates scored for him.

He was just happy that when he finally got things right Monday night, so did they.

Samardzija rebounded from three poor efforts against the Rockies with a solid outing, helping the Giants snap a five-game losing streak with a 9-2 victory in the opener of a three-game series.

Hunter Pence and Buster Posey had three hits apiece in a 14-hit attack as the Giants, coming off a three-game home thumping at the hands of the New York Mets, won for just the second time in their past 14 games.

"We haven't forgotten how to hit," Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford said. "We know what we're capable of. It's been a while since we all came together in the same game."

Just their second loss in 12 games against the Giants in 2017 extended the Rockies' season-worst losing streak to six games. Colorado had beaten San Francisco nine straight times.

"Just a lot of not good," Rockies left fielder Ian Desmond said. "Just seems like things are going bad right now, but we'll turn it around."

Samardzija (3-9), who began the day as the losingest pitcher in the National League, limited the Rockies to two runs and six hits over 6 1/3 innings. He struck out five and did not walk a batter.

"He's really thrown the ball well," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Samardzija, who hasn't allowed more than one walk in a game since April. "We've talked about his record and what it should be. It's nice to get him a win."

The veteran had been scorched by the Rockies for 19 runs and 26 hits over 18 1/3 innings in three earlier starts this season, taking a loss in all three.

The Giants backed him with run support in five separate innings this time around.

"That's the thing about this team," Samardzija said. "You give it all you got because they're going to do the same."

Colorado starter German Marquez (5-4) allowed five runs and seven hits in four innings. He walked two and struck out two.

Posey drove in three runs, and Joe Panik had two RBIs with a pair of singles for the Giants, whose 51 losses are tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the most in baseball.

Pence, Panik, Denard Span and Gorkys Hernandez scored twice apiece.

Mark Reynolds and Tony Wolters each collected two hits for the Rockies, who were swept in a three-game series at Dodger Stadium over the weekend.

The Rockies finished with nine hits off four Giants pitchers.

"This is a team game," Desmond said. "It's not pitching. It's not hitting. It's all of it.

"Pitching's a lot easier when you have run support. And hitting's a lot easier when you have the pitchers shutting them down, having quick innings. It goes hand in hand. We just have to tighten it up as a team. Everybody."

The Giants built an early 5-0 lead on the strength of extra-base hits. Posey had an RBI double in the first inning, Brandon Belt a run-scoring triple in a two-run third and Span an RBI triple in a two-run fourth.

NOTES: Responding to a Fox Sports report that RHP Mark Melancon's refusal to stretch with his fellow relievers almost four hours before night games, a "tradition" that began in 2012, had contributed to his club's poor season, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said before the game, "It's pole vaulting over mouse turds." ... Discussion on the matter, including the report's use of unnamed sources within the organization, nonetheless prompted a team meeting about an hour before Monday's start. ... Rockies manager Bud Black announced RHP Kyle Freeland would start the Wednesday series finale, while RHP Antonio Senzatela will pitch out of the bullpen for the time being. Senzatela threw two scoreless innings in relief Monday. ... The Rockies placed RF Carlos Gonzalez (strained right shoulder) and LHP Tyler Anderson (inflamed left knee) on the 10-day disabled list. Colorado reinstated RHP Chad Qualls (back spasms) from the DL and promoted RHP Jairo Diaz from Triple-A Albuquerque. ... The Rockies had only three position players available on the bench, prompting Black to use Freeland as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning. Freeland struck out.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Colorado   San Francisco
German Marquez Player Jeff Samardzija
Loss W/L Win
4.0 IP 6.1
2 Strikeouts 5
7 Hits 6
11.25 ERA 2.84
Hitting
Colorado   San Francisco
Mark Reynolds Player Buster Posey
2 Hits 3
0 RBI 3
0 HR 0
2 TB 4
.500 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Colorado 9 0 9 .250 14 10 2 1 0 1
San Francisco 14 0 20 .400 17 7 9 3 1 0