David Dahl has squared up so many baseballs hard this season that went off the wall just short of clearing the fences.
He’s not taking anything for granted now, especially when it comes to the Colorado center fielder’s chances of making his first All-Star team.
Dahl hit a go-ahead grand slam in the third and drove in a career-high five runs, leading the Rockies past the San Francisco Giants 6-3 on Wednesday for a winning series.
“My biggest thing is if you start thinking about it and then we’ve still got what 10-something games left (before the All-Star break) and then you struggle and you’re thinking about it, it kind of does no good and it’s like the first half goes to waste,” Dahl said.
He connected off Jeff Samardzija for his second career grand slam, with the other coming last Sept. 10 against Arizona. It marked the first grand slam ever hit by a Rockies player in San Francisco.
Dahl added an RBI single in the seventh. He had a two-run shot in the series opener. The only other Rockies player to drive in five runs at San Francisco was DJ LeMahieu on June 28 last year.
“David’s talented,” manager Bud Black said. “I think this year he’s really solidifying himself as a good big league player and days like today validate what you’re seeing from David. I think it’s great. I know that his motivation and his desire is to be the best player he can be, and he’s working hard and what I like is he’s doing it on both sides. He’s doing it on defense, he’s doing it on the bases, he’s doing it at the plate.”
The big swing in the series finale backed German Márquez (8-3), who immediately surrendered Pablo Sandoval’s homer the next inning but won his second straight decision.
Márquez, who tossed a one-hitter at San Francisco on April 14, allowed three runs and seven hits, struck out two and walked two over five innings. Wade Davis finished for his 11th save in 13 opportunities.
Colorado loaded the bases in the third after Tony Wolters drew a leadoff walk, Márquez advanced him with a sacrifice, Garrett Hampson singled then Charlie Blackmon walked to bring up Dahl.
Wolters added a sacrifice fly in the fourth for a key insurance run.
Samardzija (4-7), who pitched seven scoreless innings at home against the Rockies in April, was tagged for five runs and three hits in five innings.
“You give up a two-run homer and we’re fine there and the game’s still going our way, but when it’s four it’s unfortunate,” Samardzija said.
He struck out six after lefties Drew Pomeranz and Madison Bumgarner each struck out 11 batters the previous two games.
The Giants went ahead in the bottom of the first — just San Francisco’s 20th and 21st runs in the initial inning all year — on Sandoval’s double. It came after Mike Yastrzemski reached on an error by Márquez when the pitcher missed the catch covering first base.
San Francisco hadn’t scored more than one run in the first inning since June 1 against the Orioles.
SPECIAL VISITOR
Broncos coach and former 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio spent some time in the Rockies clubhouse before the series finale to visit with Black, his staff and the players.
“I’ve heard his name over the years as a great coach, a great defensive mind,” Black said. “So it was fun for us this morning to get to know him and have him around and meet the guys, sort of blend football and baseball. The Broncos were in a couple weeks ago, a lot of their players.”
UP NEXT
RHP Peter Lambert (2-0, 5.85 ERA) pitches for a second straight start against the Dodgers as the Rockies return home for a four-game series against the Los Angeles, which won three straight home games facing Colorado last weekend in walkoff fashion.
AROUND THE MAJORS WEDNESDAY
—The New York Yankees have continued their major league-record home run streak, but they needed a walk-off single to dispose of the Toronto Blue Jays Wednesday afternoon. Gleyber Torres lined a game-ending single in the bottom of the ninth to complete the Yankees’ 8-7 victory against the Jays. Torres came through after Zack Britten gave up Cavan Biggio’s RBI single in the ninth that made it 7-all. Didi Gregorius and DJ LeMahieu went deep as the Yankees extended their home run streak to 29 games before traveling to London to face the Red Sox.
—Boston also blew a ninth-inning lead, but they couldn’t rally after José Abreu crushed a two-run homer over the Green Monster and out of Fenway Park to give the White Sox an 8-7 victory. Abreu had three hits and four RBIs for Chicago, which had leads of 3-0, 5-2 and 6-4 before the Red Sox scored three in the eighth. J.D. Martinez slammed a two-run homer and also had an RBI double for the Red Sox.
_ Nelson Cruz had three hits, including the go-ahead, three-run double with two out in the seventh inning to lead the Twins past the Rays, 6-4. Minnesota starter Jake Odorizzi squandered a 3-0 lead when Kevin Kiermaier hit a two-run homer in the second inning and Tommy Pham went deep to tie the game in the sixth. The Twins beat Tampa Bay for the fifth straight time and maintained their 8 ½-game lead over Cleveland atop the AL Central.
_ The Indians picked up a 5-3 win over the Royals behind Trevor Bauer, who struck out a season-high 12 while holding Kansas City to one run and three hits over 6 2/3 innings. Bauer matched a career high by throwing 127 pitches and didn’t allow a hit until rookie Humberto Arteaga singled with two out in the fifth. Jake Bauers and Tyler Naquin (NAY’-kwihn) homered off Jakob Junis in the fourth.
_ Houston’s lead in the AL West is down to 5 ½ games over Texas after Josh Bell, Corey Dickerson and rookie Dario Agrazal led the Pirates’ 14-2 laugher over the Astros. Bell hit his 21st homer and Dickerson went 4-for-5 with three RBIs as Pittsburgh handed the Astros their eighth loss in 10 games. Agrazal threw six innings of five-hit ball to earn his first major league win.
_ Mike Minor tossed a five-hitter in his second complete game of the year to guide the Rangers past the Tigers, 4-1. Willie Calhoun, Jeff Mathis and Danny Santana homered in the fifth inning as Texas moved a season-high eight games over .500. Detroit starter Matthew Boyd struck out 11 and gave up only five hits over seven innings, but the three home runs sent the Tigers to the 19th loss in their last 21 home games.
_ Daniel Mengden notched his first victory since May 18 by limiting the Cardinals to four hits over six innings of Oakland’s 2-0 shutout at St. Louis. Beau Taylor and Matt Chapman homered off Adam Wainwright, who gave up five other hits while fanning nine over 6 2/3 innings. The Redbirds have been shut out three times in their last 14 games.
_ Dallas Keuchel picked up his first win in two starts with the Braves by working into the sixth inning of a 5-3 victory over the Cubs. Nick Markakis belted a three-run homer and Brian McCann added a solo shot to help the Braves keep their 5 ½-game lead in the NL East. Willson Contreras and Kris Bryant homered for the Cubs, whose lead in the NL Central remains one game over Milwaukee.
_ J.P. Crawford drove in three runs and the Mariners claimed their third straight win by dumping the Brewers, 4-2. Crawford put Seattle on the board with an RBI double in the first inning and then made it a 3-0 game with a run-scoring triple in the second. Ben Gamel hit an inside-the-park homer for Milwaukee, which has dropped seven of nine.
_ The Dodgers lost the rubber match of their three-game series in Phoenix as Eduardo Escobar’s three-run home gave Arizona a four-run lead in the first inning of an 8-2 thumping of the NL West leaders. Ildemaro Vargas hit a two-run double and pitcher Taylor Clarke allowed two runs and three hits over five innings. Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger cracked his 26th home run of the season, tying him for fourth-most before the All-Star break in franchise history.
_ The Phillies stormed back from a 4-0 deficit and beat the Mets, 5-4 on an RBI double by Jay Bruce in the bottom of the 10th. Jean Segura had three RBIs, including a game-tying, two-run single in the seventh. Jason Vargas struck out 10 over 6 1/3 innings and left with a 4-1 lead before New York’s bullpen imploded.
_ Matt Adams smacked a three-run homer and Anthony Rendon drove in a pair as the Nationals knocked off the Marlins, 7-5 for their seventh win in nine games. Patrick Corbin pitched seven solid innings and snapped a four-game road losing streak, yielding one run and three hits with nine strikeouts.
_ The Padres completed a two-game sweep of Baltimore as Franmil Reyes hit two of San Diego’s five homers and Eric Hosmer drove in four runs to lead a 10-5 rout. Greg Garcia got the long ball barrage started with a two-run drive in the second inning off Dylan Bundy. Hosmer and Hunter Renfroe also went deep for the Padres, who are back at .500 following their first road sweep since taking a two-game set in Seattle last September.
_ Justin Bour homered twice and Mike Trout scored the tiebreaking run on a grounder in the eighth inning of the Angels’ 5-1 win against the Reds. David Fletcher supplied the go-ahead ground ball before Bour launched a three-run blast. Shohei Ohtani went 3 for 3 with a walk as Los Angeles won for the sixth time in nine games to climb over the .500 mark.