A September call-up, Noel Cuevas just wants to make an impact.
With one choked-up swing, he delivered in a most meaningful way — in the heat of a pennant race.
The rookie pinch-hitter bounced a go-ahead, two-run single through the middle in the eighth inning and the Colorado Rockies rallied to beat the San Francisco Giants 9-8 on Monday after squandering a five-run lead.
“He’s clutch, man,” Trevor Story said. “He’s not scared.”
This was just another wild game at Coors Field as the Rockies remain in the thick of the NL West chase. They entered the day a half-game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“You always have to grab on and hold on tight (at Coors Field),” said catcher Drew Butera, who was making his Rockies debut after being acquired from the Kansas City Royals last week. “Because anything can happen here.”
On an afternoon when Story hit two homers off Giants ace Madison Bumgarner and the Rockies seemed in command at 7-2 after five innings, they needed the rookie Cuevas to come through with that clutch hit.
Ian Desmond started the eighth with a single and pinch-hitter Chris Iannetta later lined a double off the wall in right. Then, Cuevas stepped into the moment.
He took a big first swing off reliever Tony Watson (4-6) and whiffed. So Cuevas decided to choke up on the bat and focus on going up the middle. It worked — a grounder through a drawn-in infield.
“No words for it,” said Cuevas, who was with the team earlier this season. “How much better can it get? It’s almost like a walk-off.”
Colorado had a 7-5 lead in eighth when Giants pinch-hitters Alen Hanson and Chris Shaw hit back-to-back homers off reliever Seunghwan Oh (6-3). Hanson tied the game at 7 on a two-run homer and three pitches later Shaw lined an 0-2 cutter from Oh over the fence in right for his first career homer.
“What a great comeback. It was a shame we couldn’t hold on,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “We really came on strong at the end.”
Wade Davis struck out the side in the ninth for his 38th save.
It’s a pivotal stretch for Colorado, which started off 10 straight at home and all against NL West foes.
“To go down late and come back in the eighth, that was huge,” Story said. “Hopefully we can ride that momentum through the homestand.”
Colorado scored four times in the first off Bumgarner, who threw 35 pitches in facing nine hitters. DJ LeMahieu and Story each hit two-run homers in the inning.
Story added a three-run homer off Bumgarner in the fifth. The shortstop has a career-high 28 homers this season.
Gorkys Hernandez homered for the Giants, who’ve dropped 15 of 17 in Denver since 2017.
“These are the toughest ones to lose,” Hernandez said. “We came back after being so far down and we couldn’t get the win.”
UP NEXT
Giants rookie RHP Dereck Rodriguez (6-2) has a 2.47 ERA heading into his start Tuesday against Colorado. He’s also holding hitters to a .207 average. Rockies RHP German Marquez (11-9, 4.11) is coming off a start in which he had 13 strikeouts.
AROUND THE MAJORS
–The Dodgers fell into second place by losing to the Mets for the first time in 13 meetings since May 2016. Brandon Nimmo launched a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the ninth inning to send the Mets past L.A., 4-2.
Jacob deGrom received another no-decision despite providing an RBI single that tied the game in the sixth. DeGrom has a 1.68 ERA after limiting the Dodgers to one run over six innings.
–The Padres knocked off the Diamondbacks, 6-2 as Franmil Reyes drove in four runs with a pair of homers. Reyes put San Diego in front for good with a three-run blast in the second inning. Bryan Mitchell went five innings and allowed a run and two hits in his first start since landing on the disabled list with a right elbow impingement.
— Christian Yelich beat out a potential inning-ending, double-play grounder in the bottom of the ninth to complete the Brewers’ 4-3 victory over the Cubs. Mike Moustakas tied it with a bases-loaded walk in the eighth, a half-inning after Anthony Rizzo’s two-run homer put the Cubs ahead 3-2. The Cubs’ lead in the NL Central now sits at four games over the Brewers and 5 1/2 games over St. Louis.
— The Cardinals blew a 3-1 lead in the ninth and suffered a 4-3 loss at Washington on Bryce Harper’s sacrifice fly. Harper also extended the game with a two-run blast off Bud Norris. Nationals starter Max Scherzer leads the majors with 260 strikeouts after fanning 11 over seven innings.
— Atlanta’s lead in the NL East remains four games over Philadelphia after Jose Urena worked seven sparkling innings to lead the Marlins’ 3-1 win against the Phillies. Urena limited Philadelphia to four hits and tossed shutout ball following Asdrubal Cabrera’s second-inning homer. Rafael Ortega provided a tiebreaking, two-run single in a three-run second as Miami dealt the Phils their third straight loss and 11th in their last 15 games.
— Ian Kinsler had three RBIs and the Red Sox moved 8 ½ games ahead of the Yankees in the AL East by thumping the Braves, 8-2. The Braves closed within 3-2 before Kinsler delivered a two-out, two-run single in the eighth following a throwing error by first baseman Freddie Freeman. Xander Bogaerts added a two-run double in the ninth.
— Mark Canha homered and Matt Chapman furnished the tiebreaking, RBI double in the Athletics’ 6-3 win over the Yankees. Trevor Cahill worked five innings before Oakland’s bullpen completed four frames of hitless relief. The A’s stayed 2 ½ games behind the AL West-leading Astros and climbed within 4 ½ games of the Yankees for the first AL wild card.
— Dallas Keuchel combined with four relievers on an eight-hitter as the Astros picked up their third consecutive win, 4-1 against the Twins. Keuchel was reached for five hits over six innings and blanked Minnesota until Miguel Sano’s RBI single in the sixth. Alex Bregman and Yuli Gurriel hit solo homers for the Astros, who are 10-3 since falling into a first-place tie with Oakland on Aug. 20.
— Dee Gordon’s sacrifice fly in the fifth broke a 1-1 deadlock in the Mariners’ 2-1 verdict over the Orioles. Erasmo Ramirez pitched into the sixth and combined with four relievers on a three-hitter, blanking Baltimore after Jonathan Villar’s fourth-inning blast. Edwin Diaz struck out the side in the ninth for his major league-leading 52nd save, helping the Mariners stay 5 ½ games behind Oakland for the second AL wild card.
— The Indians dropped their third in a row as Jakob Junis fired seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball in the Royals’ 5-1 win against the AL Central leaders. Ryan O’Hearn homered twice for Kansas City, which also received longballs from Jorge Bonifacio and Hunter Dozier. Francisco Lindor ended the Royals’ shutout bid in the ninth with his 30th home run.
— The Rays are 12-2 in their last 14 games after Yonny Chirinos tossed seven innings of one-run relief in a 7-1 win at Toronto. Matt Duffy lined a two-run double. Jo-Man Choi homered and Kevin Kiermaier was 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman was roughed up in his first start since coming off the disabled list, allowing four runs and six hits in 1 2/3 innings.
— The Angels knocked off the Rangers, 3-1 as Matt Shoemaker pitched five scoreless innings in his first start for Los Angeles in more than five months. Shoemaker had missed 134 games since going on the disabled list because of a right forearm strain after his first start of the season March 31. Taylor Ward’s two-run homer was part of a three-run seventh that allowed Taylor Cole to pick up his first big league win.
— Trevor Williams scattered five hits while pitching shutout ball over 6 2/3 innings of the Pirates’ 5-1 win over the Reds. Adam Frazier put Pittsburgh ahead to stay with a solo blast in the first inning and Greg Polanco added a two-run shot in the sixth, both coming off Matt Harvey.
— The White Sox homered twice in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Tigers, 4-2. Daniel Palka’s solo blast tied it before Matt Davidson’s two-run shot gave Chicago’ its eighth victory in 10 games.