Patrick Bailey’s first Coors Field game is a show-stopper as SF Giants set franchise record in rout of Rockies

DENVER — There is no lack of San Francisco Giants who enjoy hitting at Coors Field, and after their first game of the season in its mile-high setting, they can probably add at least one more player to the list.

Rookie catcher Patrick Bailey quickly learned why the Colorado Rockies’ home is considered a hitter’s paradise, contributing a trio of extra-base knocks in a well-rounded rout Tuesday night in the first of three games between the NL West rivals. The Giants (30-30) won, 10-4, beating Colorado for the ninth straight game.

Bailey doubled twice, scored two runs and collected his first career triple as the Giants got 14 hits, including at least one from all but one member of their starting lineup. San Francisco set a franchise record with eight doubles, including a pair from Thairo Estrada in addition to Bailey’s contribution.

“It’s definitely got a reputation,” Bailey said. “That’s correct, I’d say. Definitely hitter friendly.”

LaMonte Wade Jr. also reached base in all six of his trips to the plate — the fourth leadoff man in the history of the franchise to do so — and scored twice, raising his on-base percentage to .429, second-best in the majors.

One of the majors’ most patient hitters, Wade led off the bottom of the first by ripping the first pitch he saw from Rockies starter Dinelson Lamet down the right field line for a double, then attacked the first pitch again in the seventh for another line-drive single. For the most part, though, Giants hitters made Colorado’s pitchers labor.

The first of Bailey’s doubles came on the seventh pitch of his at-bat, while he saw another seven pitches before tripling on the eighth offering of his next at-bat. The Giants drew a season-high 11 walks and saw six or more pitches in 12 of their trips to the plate, forcing the Rockies to throw 240 total, the second-most in a game by any team in the majors this year (behind only the Oakland A’s, who used 245 in a 17-6 loss to the New York Mets).

Time of game: 3 hours, 28 minutes minutes, the Giants’ longest nine-inning game outside of Mexico City this season.

“I thought we did a nice job looking over the baseball today, making good swing decisions throughout,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “Obviously LaMonte led the way. He’s just become so knowledgable when it comes to the strike zone, makes such good decisions. He’s so stubborn about not swinging at pitches outside the zone, even in the zone if he can’t drive them. It’s really the ideal approach at the plate for us and I think up and down the lineup we were able to execute that tonight.”

Bailey became the first Giants rookie with three extra-base hits in a game since Mike Yastrzemski in 2019, and one of only four players in franchise history to do it within the first 15 games of their career (last: Jarrett Parker, Sept. 26, 2015). It should come as no surprise that his first career triple came in the expansive dimensions here, where three-baggers occur 35% more than the average MLB park.

Bailey could have made it to third base standing up, after nearly missing out on a homer to straightaway center. The ball hit off the 415-foot sign and bounced away into no-man’s land, allowing Bailey to round second before an outfielder was able to get his hands on the ball.

“I was out of breath a lot of the game,” Bailey said, taking supplemental oxygen for the first time of his career.

Also on Bailey’s plate Tuesday night was managing a bullpen game, with five pitchers combining to limit Colorado to four runs on nine hits. Sean Manaea took down 14 of the 27 outs, allowing all four runs but also striking out five and throwing 66% of his pitches for strikes, meaning San Francisco’s bullpen will be at full strength for the final two games of the series.

“I thought he did a really nice job behind the plate,” Kapler said of his rookie catcher. “It’s not an easy task at Coors Field getting through a game that could turn in to a bullpen game.”

“That’s definitely the more difficult part from the catching side,” Bailey said of his work behind the plate. “I feel like the most interesting thing is just the different shapes, like guys’ sliders and sinkers (don’t move) as much, so just navigating that. You probably have a different game plan than at Oracle or any normal stadium.”

Few players have enjoyed Coors Field like Brandon Crawford, who doubled home Bailey to score the Giants’ first run in the second inning. The 36-year-old shortstop occupied the No. 9 spot and still sports only a .639 OPS this season, but he showed he’s still got it at Coors, where he owns the seventh-best OPS of any major leaguer since the start of 2019 (1.088).

Crawford had to get creative to sneak into second safely after lining a hanging slider off the right-field wall. Randal Grichuck quickly fielded the ball on one hop and made a good throw to second base; Crawford dove headfirst, and when that didn’t quite get him there, rolled over onto his back while holding on to the bag.

Returning from the injured list, Estrada poked a single over second base that drove in Crawford in the second inning and later added a pair of doubles, finishing 3-for-5 in his first game since May 25. Joc Pederson, playing his first game since May 12, reached base three times and scored one of the Giants’ five runs in the fifth inning. Returning from a bruised heel, Michael Conforto went 1-for-3 and was a “little sore” after being pulled in the sixth inning, Kapler said, but is expected to be back in the lineup Wednesday.

Having the veterans back at the top of the order “definitely takes some pressure off yourself toward the bottom,” Bailey said. “Still just trying to put up quality ABs and pass it to the next guy.”

In a twist of irony, the Giants player with the best numbers at Coors, Mike Yastrzemski (1.120 OPS at Coors Field since 2019, second-best in MLB), was the one member of their lineup held hitless, though he still drew a pair of walks and scored a run.

Yastrzemski collided with Austin Slater on a triple from Jurickson Profar in the seventh inning, but both players remained in the game and were expected to be OK. The ball was hit to the warning track in right-center field, and Yastrzemski’s momentum carried him into Slater, who had pulled up, knocking both to the ground.

Kapler and two trainers went to meet them in the outfield, with Kapler heading toward Yastrzemski in right. Kapler said it was “a little scary” initially, but the manager was already in a joking mood by the time he was making his way back to the dugout.

“It’s not often you see two trainers come on the field and go to two separate spots on the field,” Kapler said. “I was kind of joking with Craw when I was jogging back in, it shows who’s most important … so I’ll give Slates a hard time about that at some point.”