Ezequiel Tovar homers for third consecutive game, Rockies hold on to beat Giants 4-3

DENVER – Ezequiel Tovar homered for the third straight game, breaking a tie with a two-run fifth inning, and the Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants 4-3 on Saturday night.

Kyle Freeland (2-3) went six innings and allowed three runs – two earned – on five hits in a fifth straight quality start since being reinstated from the injured list on June 23 after missing two months with a strained knee. left elbow. He struck out four and walked one to win back-to-back decisions for the first time this season. Freeland said he threw all four pitches for strikes, allowing him to keep Giants hitters on the defensive. “I was filling the zone,” he said. “Getting yourself into good counts and allowing the defense to work for you, that’s huge as a starting pitcher. If we keep doing that, we’ll see a lot of games like this where the starters go deep into games and we’ll come out with wins.”

Tyler Fitzgerald, batting ninth in the order, doubled and scored to drive in two runs for the Giants. Wilmer Flores had a run-scoring double after Matt Chapman scored two outs in the sixth due to a fielding error by shortstop Tovar.

Logan Webb was coming off his worst start to the season. He set a career-high by allowing seven runs in five innings in a 10–6 loss to Toronto on July 10.

Webb (7-8) kept the Rockies in check until Sam Hilliard singled to start the fifth. One out later, Tovar hit it over the left field fence for his 16th home run of the season.

Tovar said he hit a slider that went over the middle of the plate and the reaction from the 44,178 fans told him it was out of the park.

“It was more the atmosphere of the fans. That’s when I realized I had come this far,” Tovar said through an interpreter. His home run traveled 455 feet, the longest of his career.

Webb went six innings and allowed four runs on eight hits. He walked four and struck out four. “I have to be better. I know that,” he said. “I’m very frustrated with the way I’ve been performing the last few games.”

Fitzgerald struck out Freeland in the third and doubled to Mike Yastrzemski, aboard with a triple, in the fifth.

Nick Mears threw two hitless innings in relief, starting his game with four consecutive hits, and Victor Vodnik threw a hitless ninth for his third save. “Nine batters faced, nine outs. That’s really good for the bullpen,” Mears said. TRAINER’S ROOM

Giants: LHP Robbie Ray pitched impressively in his latest rehab outing and manager Bob Melvin says there’s a “good chance” the 2021 AL Cy Young Award winner could make his Giants debut during the four-series San Francisco at the Los Angeles Dodgers games starting Monday. Melvin described Ray’s imminent return as a “big deal.” The Giants acquired Ray in an offseason trade with Seattle. He is trying to make his first appearance since undergoing reconstructive surgery on his pitching elbow in early May 2023. Ray pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings at Triple-A Sacramento on Friday night, allowing one hit . He struck out seven and walked two.

Rockies: C Elías Díaz left the game with right calf tightness and was replaced in the third inning by C Jacob Stallings. INF-OF Kris Bryant was scheduled to begin his second rehabilitation Saturday night as a designated hitter for Triple-A Albuquerque after going 0-3 in his first appearance Friday night. Bryant, sidelined with a left rib injury since early June, is expected to play again for Albuquerque on Sunday. It is anticipated he will be re-evaluated after the weekend and could return to the Rockies next week.

NEXT

Rockies LHP Ryan Feltner (1-9, 5.36 ERA) will look to snap an eight-game losing streak when he takes control in Sunday’s series finale against the Giants, who are scheduled to start RHP Hayden Birdsong (1-0, 3 .72 WAS).

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