The Colorado Rockies put a forgettable weekend at Dodger Stadium behind them and started fresh.
David Dahl hit a two-run homer in the third that held up for Jon Gray, and the Rockies snapped a three-game skid by beating the San Francisco Giants 2-0 on Monday night.
Gray (8-5) struck out six in six innings, allowing four hits and walking two. The Rockies were coming off three straight walkoff defeats to the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
“That was a very rough series,” Dahl said. “You just have to shake that off and come out and keep grinding, keep battling. We’re facing some really good arms right now, good teams. You’ve just got to come to the park every day and forget about what happened the day before and come out ready to play.”
Giants starter Drew Pomeranz matched his career high with 11 strikeouts over five innings but left trailing 2-0.
The 11 Ks were the most by a Giants pitcher throwing five or fewer innings since the mound distance was established in 1893, according to Elias. The lefty struck out the side in the first, allowing only Nolan Arenado’s two-out single. Pomeranz (2-8) has 31 strikeouts in four career starts against Colorado.
The left-hander hadn’t allowed an earned run over his two previous home starts — 10 innings with 12 strikeouts — but took his first loss to the Rockies in seven career outings and four starts, despite his sixth career double-digit strikeout game. He last struck out 11 on May 25, 2017, with Boston against the Rangers.
“It just worked out. I had a good fastball. Those guys said I had carry on my fastball. I guess that leads to strikeouts sometimes,” Pomeranz said. “I just was thinking attack. I didn’t want to walk guys, even though I did walk a couple guys. Some of the other guys had three-pitch strikeouts so it kind of helped balance it out.”
Joe Panik was thrown out at the plate 8-6-2 to end the seventh trying to score from first on Mike Yastrzemski’s double. The Giants challenged and the play was confirmed in 1 minute, 57 seconds.
Jairo Diaz and Scott Oberg each pitched a scoreless inning before Wade Davis finished the six-hitter for his 10th save in 12 opportunities.
The Giants, who had won six straight series openers, lost for the fifth time in seven games. Colorado won for just the second time in five games at San Francisco, which was shut out for the ninth time.
Alex Dickerson went 1 for 3 with a strikeout in his first home game since being acquired by the Giants from the Padres on June 10. He singled in the first then stole his first base moments later.
Colorado’s Pat Valaika, in his third 2019 stint with the Rockies, was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and is now hitless in his last 30 at-bats since a double on April 8.
UP NEXT
Colorado: RHP Chi Chi Gonzalez, on the taxi squad, comes up from Triple-A Albuquerque to make his 14th career start and 18th appearance. It will be his first major league start since 2016 with Texas.
San Francisco: Bumgarner (3-7, 4.28) looks to bounce back after allowing a season-high six runs and 10 hits in 3 2-3 innings Thursday at Dodger Stadium for his shortest outing of 2019.
AROUND THE MAJORS MONDAY
— The New York Yankees have tied the major league record for consecutive games with a home run. Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton went deep as the Yanks topped the Blue Jays, 10-8 and extended their home run streak to 27 games, matching the mark set by the 2002 Rangers. Stanton’s first home run of the season was a three-run blast that highlighted the Yankees’ seven-run sixth. Hicks also hit a three-run shot while New York built a 10-2 lead. CC Sabathia pitched six innings of two-run ball for his 251st career victory.
_ The Red Sox were able to celebrate a 6-5 win over the White Sox when Marco Hernández beat out an infield single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. Eduardo Nunez hit a solo homer and tied the game with an RBI single in the eighth inning. Mookie Betts also homered as Boston ended a two-game skid and won for the ninth time in 12 games.
_ The Indians picked up a 3-2 win over the Royals on a walk-off, solo homer by Jason Kipnis in the 10th inning. Kipnis is batting .471 with four homers and 14 RBIs in his past nine games, one reason why Cleveland is an AL-leading 15-6 this month. Indians rookie Bobby Bradley hit an RBI double for the second time since making his big league debut on Sunday.
_ David Peralta hit a tiebreaking RBI single while the Diamondbacks scored four times in the eighth to beat the Dodgers, 8-5. Former Dodger Tim Locastro put the game out of reach with a two-run double. Christian Walker and starting pitcher Zack Greinke homered for Arizona, which ended the Dodgers’ six-game winning streak.
_ Willson Contreras slammed a solo homer and drove in three as the Cubs won a matchup of NL division leaders, 8-3 over the Braves. Jason Heyward added a solo homer for the Cubs, who put together a five-run fifth and moved a game ahead of the Brewers in the NL Central. Jon Lester pitched five-hit ball through six innings to help Chicago cut the Braves’ lead in the NL East to 5 ½ games over Philadelphia.
_ The Phillies scored just 15 runs during their seven-game losing streak before their offense broke through with four home runs in a 13-7 victory over the Mets. Jean Segura, Rhys Hoskins and Mikael Franco went deep off Steven Matz before Jay Bruce added a blast against his former team. Franco had three RBIs, including a two-run blast that put Philadelphia ahead, 7-6.