DENVER _ What goes up must come down, and the Giants' trips to Coors Field are a testament to that law of motion.
No major league ballpark in the country is situated at a higher elevation than the Rockies' home stadium, and there's no city the Giants have fared worse in over the past two seasons.
After dropping Tuesday's blowout 8-1, the Giants have now lost 13 of their past 15 games at the mile-high destination that's become a house of horrors for San Francisco's hitters and pitchers alike.
The Giants entered Coors Field fresh off a three-game sweep of the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks, a series that pulled the club within 2.5 games of the division lead in the National League West. But every time the Giants rise up the standings, they seem to fall back to sea level.
With a defeat Tuesday, the Giants have lost consecutive games for the first time since June 15-16 against the Dodgers, which was also the last time the Giants have been held to two runs or fewer in back-to-back contests.
Right-hander Chris Stratton took the mound Tuesday after the Giants announced several changes to their rotation to accommodate the upcoming returns of veterans Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija.
Though manager Bruce Bochy has praised Stratton for helping hold together the pitching staff during their absences, the Giants did not commit to announcing Stratton as the starter for next Monday's game against the Cubs, which is when his turn in the rotation comes up again.
Stratton has been up at the major league level since August 2017, but the second-year right-hander could be on his way down to the minor leagues or back to the bullpen after rookies Andrew Suarez and Dereck Rodriguez flashed impressive potential during an 18-win month of June for the Giants.
Back-to-back losses have brought the Giants down to earth at 45-42, but Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado remains on cloud nine whenever he faces San Francisco.
Arenado appeared in his 100th career game against the Giants on Tuesday and in the fifth inning, he launched his 24th career home run against the club to dead center field. His three-run shot extended the Rockies advantage to 6-0 in the fifth inning and brought his career total to 90 RBIs against Giants pitchers.
The Giants' inability to figure out Arenado, who will soon lock up his fourth career All-Star nod, isn't all that surprising considering the Rockies' best player continues to improve as he enters the prime of his career.
What's more confounding is the Giants' struggles against a Rockies team that entered Tuesday's contest with the worst ERA in the National League.
After the Giants managed just two runs in a 5-2 defeat Monday, Bochy's squad did not score against Rockies starter Antonio Sentazela on Tuesday. Senzatela made his first major league start of the year against the Giants after facing their Triple-A squad, the Sacramento River Cats, last week.
The burly righty blanked Sacramento over 7 2/3 innings Thursday and tossed seven frames of three-hit ball against San Francisco Tuesday. Though the Giants had won 15 of their last 18 games against right-handed starters, they couldn't maintain their success against Senzatela who now holds a 14 2/3-inning scoreless streak against the organization.
The Giants did scratch across a run on an Alen Hanson single in the eighth, but that was all they mustered against the Rockies.
