No-hit through 5, SF Giants come back to beat Rockies for 10th straight meeting

DENVER — Gleaming at his new-look, full-strength lineup before Wednesday’s game, Gabe Kapler said the most exciting part wasn’t the addition of Joc Pederson, nor Thairo Estrada, nor Michael Conforto, though all three surely serve an important presence in the middle of the order.

The Giants manager began listing off the names he had available on his bench.

“I think we always think about how deep the lineup gets when we have a fully healthy position player roster,” Kapler said. “But it really is emphasized when you look at the bench. You have J.D. Davis, Austin Slater, Wilmer Flores on the bench today. The Rockies have two left-handed pitchers, (Brent) Suter and (Brad) Hand, that can come out of their ‘pen. It kind of makes you think twice. You’re going to run into some really good right-handed bats.”

In succession, that is precisely who the Rockies ran into in the seventh inning Wednesday night. When Colorado turned to Suter, Kapler countered with Slater, Flores and Davis. The trio of pinch-hitters delivered a pair of knocks as the Giants mounted their best scoring rally of the evening.

The three-run seventh only served to set up a go-ahead rally in the eighth, as the Giants came back to beat the Rockies, 5-4, despite being held hitless into the sixth inning and their ace, Logan Webb, being forced to his second-earliest exit from a start this season.

“This place, you’re one inning away from winning a game,” Webb said. “I feel like we’ve had games here the last couple years where we’re up by four or five and somehow we lose the game in the inning, or sometimes it’s the other way around, too. Like today, we were losing by four in the seventh and we won the game. It’s just a different beast to play here.”

Patrick Bailey, who only entered after Flores pinch-hit for Blake Sabol in the seventh, laid down a perfectly executed safety squeeze, allowing Mitch Haniger to race home and score the go-ahead run. After singling home one in the seventh, Slater drove in Joc Pederson as the tying run with his second RBI knock in as many innings.

The Giants, who trailed 4-0 entering the seventh, scored the final five runs of the game. Camilo Doval recorded the final three outs for his National League-leading 15th save of the season. San Francisco (31-30) has not lost to the Rockies since Aug. 20 of last season, a streak of 10 straight wins over their NL West foe.

“It’s not always going to work out that way,” Kapler said of San Francisco’s perfect pinch-hitting. “A lefty comes in the game and you run your righties out there, and they can pop up, strike out and ground out, and it doesn’t look as good as it did today. But obviously the guys got the job done. We like it when it plays out that way.”

Bailey, who didn’t bunt once in college or the minor leagues, has now executed two safety squeezes in less than a month in the majors.

“Being a college guy, you kind of get it thrown down your throat a little bit,” Bailey said. “We always practiced it a lot. … Looking at the coach to get the sign, then trying to see the ball hit the bat and not mess it up, just get it on the ground. Haniger did a great job with his jump. It probably wasn’t the best bunt, but he got a good jump.”

“Fortunately he’s put down two really good bunts,” said Haniger, who was on third for the first one, too. “Just get a good lead (and) read the down angle of the bunt.”

After matching a franchise record with nine extra-base hits in Tuesday’s series opener (three from Bailey), the Giants didn’t record anything but singles Wednesday. They were held hitless for five-plus innings, after breaking out for 14 the night before. Perhaps oddest of all: They’ve won back-to-back games at Coors Field without homering once.

“It’s definitely been a strange two days,” Bailey said. “But it’s nice to have two wins.”

Webb left after 5⅓ innings, snapping a streak of 10 consecutive starts of at least six innings. He allowed four runs, matching a season-high, and struck out three, tied for a season-low. His two walks were one off his most of the season, and so were the eight hits allowed.

The Rockies scored three of their runs in the second inning, before Nolan Jones launched a mammoth solo shot in the sixth that spelled an end to Webb’s day.

“To be honest, I didn’t really have a rhythm,” Webb said. “I don’t know how many outs were over 100 mph. It just wasn’t a very good day for me, honestly.”

The second inning started with a walk to the leadoff man, Mike Moustakas, who came around to score on one of four straight hits that followed. Webb attacked three batters (including former Giants catcher Austin Wynns, now Colorado’s backup backstop) in the same fashion — with sinkers over the heart of the plate early in the count — and all three batters made him pay in the same way, with Charlie Blackmon delivering the final blow with a two-RBI double into right-center.

“I just thought I’d be able to get ahead with fastballs and get to the point where I can get some chase,” Webb said. “Unfortunately when I was throwing those fastballs, they were just middle. I was either missing with it or just throwing it right down the middle. That’s not a very good recipe for success.”

Webb’s sinker to Jones in the sixth was better-executed, down and in, but it didn’t matter: Jones crushed it 483 feet, the second-longest home run in MLB this season.

The Giants were held hitless by Rockies starter Connor Seabold until LaMonte Wade Jr. broke through with an opposite-field single with one out in the sixth. Seabold, 27, was traded to Colorado this past offseason for a player to be named later and took a 7.14 career ERA into Wednesday night, only his 20th MLB appearance since debuting in 2021. No Giants batter had ever faced him.

When they broke through in the seventh, it all started with a walk to Conforto. When they took the lead in the eighth, that also began with a walk to Pederson.

“It seems like it always starts with a walk,” Webb said. “I know firsthand.”

Notable

— RHP Alex Cobb (5-2, 2.71) will start Thursday’s series finale on regular rest, the club announced. The Giants had listed the spot as TBA. He will be opposed by RHP Chase Anderson (0-0, 2.08).

— OF Michael Conforto (heel) is still feeling some soreness in his bruised left heel but made his second straight start.