CLICK HERE if you are having a problem viewing the photos on a mobile device
DENVER — Remember the 2019 Giants? The team with the lowest batting average in franchise history? The lineup that made fans feel lucky when they witnessed a four-run outburst?
If you’ve already forgotten what those days looked like, so did the offense that suddenly can’t be stopped.
The Giants arrived at Coors Field for a doubleheader Monday and scored a series worth of runs in the matinee matchup, exploding for four home runs and 21 hits in a 19-2 victory over the Rockies.
With their ninth win in their last 11 games, the Giants set a San Francisco-era record for the most runs scored during an 11-game stretch with 94. The 19 runs the Giants scored on Monday marked their most in a game since they defeated the Dodgers 19-3 on September 14, 2013.
Shortstop Brandon Crawford paced the offense with five hits and eight RBIs as he joined Orlando Cepeda (July 4, 1961) and Willie Mays (April 30, 1961) as the only Giants players to drive in eight runs in a game since the franchise moved to San Francisco in 1958.
“That’s something to be proud of,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “Your name mixed in with those guys, it’s a huge day here, there’s no getting around it.”
Crawford also recorded his fourth career multi-home run game as he launched an opposite field, three-run blast in the first inning and a 443-foot home run into the second deck in right field in the sixth. His sixth-inning home run was the farthest ball Crawford has hit since Statcast began tracking batted ball distances in 2015.
“RBIs don’t matter anymore,” Crawford joked. “Yeah, I hit with a lot of guys on base today and that was nice. The whole lineup contributed and to be able to get some hits with runners in scoring position was definitely a good thing.”
Crawford received plenty of help from the hitters sandwiched around him in the middle of the Giants’ batting order as left fielder Alex Dickerson and right fielder Mike Yastrzemski combined with the shortstop to go 12-for-17 with 12 RBIs.
The 17-run margin of victory was the Giants’ largest since they defeated the Montreal Expos 18-0 on May 24, 2000.
OUTTA HERE (x2)
#SFGiants pic.twitter.com/5gmHU27qY2— SFGiants (@SFGiants) July 15, 2019
The Giants threw the knockout punch early, scoring five in the first and seven in the third as they racked up 12 runs in the first three innings of a game for the first time since scoring 13 in three innings of a 13-0 victory over the Astros on July 3, 2009. It was also the first time the Giants scored 12 or more runs in the first three innings of a road game since they defeated the Phillies 15-8 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia on July 9, 1993.
The 11 earned runs charged to Rockies starter German Marquez were the most a pitcher has surrendered against the Giants since 1947 when Ed Jurisch of the Phillies gave up 11 to the New York Giants on June 28, 1947.
Three months after Evan Longoria recorded the Giants’ only hit in Marquez’s April 14 shutout victory over the Giants at Oracle Park, the Giants forced the Rockies to remove Marquez before the right-hander had completed three innings. They did it all without Longoria, who was hitting .400 in the month of July entering the day before he was placed on the 10-day injured list with plantar fasciitis in his left foot.
“It’s hard to replace someone like Longo, but I think our whole lineup has been contributing a lot,” Crawford said. “Even before the break, everyone has been swinging it better and we’ve been scoring a lot of runs.”
By the time Rockies first baseman Mark Reynolds singled for Colorado’s first hit in the bottom of the third, seven Giants had already reached with hits and four had recorded multiple hits. In the top of the ninth inning, Reynolds became the third Rockies position player ever to pitch as he moved onto the mound in mop-up duty.
The onslaught from the Giants hitters gave starter Jeff Samardzija the confidence to attack the strike zone all afternoon. Samardzija logged his third consecutive quality start as he lasted 6 2/3 innings and set a season-high with nine strikeouts, his most since he finished with nine on September 2, 2017 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
“You score 19 runs and as a pitcher, all you’ve got to do is go out there and kick the ball at the plate for five innings and get a win,” Samardzija said. “It makes things a lot easier.”
In his last three outings, Samardzija has posted a 1.66 ERA in 21 2/3 innings while earning victories over the Padres, Cardinals and Rockies. Despite giving up a pair of solo home runs on Monday, Samardzija’s outing against the Rockies may have been his most impressive considering the way the ball was carrying on a 90-degree day at the hitter-friendly Coors Field.
“You just want to go out there and do your job, get outs and kind of not get in the offense’s way right now,” Samardzija said. “Make quick innings, that’s where we’re at as starters. You just don’t say much about it and just enjoy it.”
Three of the four home runs the Giants hits in Monday afternoon’s game traveled at least 400 feet as Yastrzemski followed Crawford’s first inning home run with a 433-foot shot into the Giants bullpen. In the third inning, catcher Buster Posey greeted reliever Jesus Tinoco with a 425-foot two-run homer to dead center field on the third pitch he threw.
With a victory in Game 1 of the doubleheader, Bochy moved back above .500 in his career as a Giants manager. Entering the evening matchup, Bochy owns a 1,019-1,018 record in 12-plus seasons with the franchise.
