DENVER _ Pablo Sandoval grounded out in the first inning of the Giants' 4-3 loss at Coors Field Monday afternoon. He grounded out in the fourth inning. He bounced out once more in the sixth.
He extended his hitless streak to 32 consecutive at-bats, which is the longest by a Giant in a generation. The last player to endure a hit-deprived wasteland of this magnitude was Johnnie LeMaster in 1984. His Gobi Desert lasted 37 at-bats.
Call Sandoval the Kung Boo Panda, then.
Any barren streak this long has to involve some element of bad luck, too. And the Giants should know by now: there's no sense hoping for any good fortune to befall them at Coors Field this season.
Sandoval's final at-bat in the ninth inning was a hard-comebacker that Rockies pitcher Greg Holland stopped while falling on his backside. Sandoval's dry spell became 33 at-bats. The Giants were unable to start a rally amid a tie game. And they didn't get another chance.
The Rockies didn't require a hit to win the series opener. Carlos Gonzalez drew a bases-loaded walk from Cory Gearrin in the ninth as the Giants fell to 0-8 at Coors Field this season.
Gearrin nearly made a hero's escape. He entered with the bases loaded and the infield crowding him, and struck out Pat Valaika. But the Giants have no other lefty that they can trust, and Gearrin was wide on four consecutive pitches as the Rockies walked it off.
It was the last of three walks that the Giants issued in an inning that began with a defensive shortcoming. Charlie Blackmon's catchable leadoff double deflected off Mac Williamson's glove in left field, and Giants left-hander Steven Okert followed an intentional walk with an unintentional one to load the bases.
Joe Panik and Denard Span hit early home runs and Giants right-hander Chris Stratton did well to avoid calamity on a dry, windy and smoke-hazed afternoon while throwing 98 pitches in just four innings.
But the Rockies managed to take a 3-2 lead against Stratton in a two-run fourth inning. And the best the Giants could manage was to tie the game in the sixth when Span doubled and Panik followed with an RBI single.
Sandoval was not alone in going hitless. The Giants' Nos. 4-9 hitters combined to go hitless in 17 at-bats.
Span and Panik combined for six of the Giants' seven hits.
