DENVER _ It doesn't matter whether it's a cool night at AT&T Park or the still and sultry conditions conducive to a Coors Field slugfest or even a relatively mild and breezy day when baseball mostly resembles itself here on the Front Range.
The Giants have been a few runs short and a step behind the Rockies all season.
Their 5-1 loss Saturday afternoon was their eighth consecutive to the Rockies _ the worst stretch in franchise history. They have lost nine of 10 games against Colorado this season. Their deficit in the NL West now stands at 18{ games.
The Giants have their issues with other opponents, too. They are 26-44 and on pace to finish 60-102.
They could not win when they scored nine runs on Thursday or eight runs on Friday. They could not win Saturday even when Matt Cain set aside his epic road struggles to give them a chance while holding the Rockies to two runs (one earned) in five innings.
Their inconsistent offense played into the hands of left-hander Kyle Freeland, who entered with the best ground ball rate among NL starters and induced so many bouncing balls that the sellout crowd could've sung along.
Cain gave up three consecutive singles in the second inning as the Rockies took a 1-0 lead. The Giants pitched to No.8 batter Tony Wolters with second base open and two outs, and he burned them for an RBI hit.
The Giants tied it in the fourth when the Rockies pitched to No.8 batter Gorkys Hernandez with first base open and two outs, and he burned them for an RBI hit.
Offense begets offense here at Coors Field, where managers are compelled to make different decisions.
Nick Hundley scored on Hernandez's double and bumped shoulders with Wolters as the Rockies catcher absent-mindedly stood in the lane while awaiting a throw. Hundley appeared none too pleased.
Both starting pitchers took a shot back to the mound. Joe Panik hit a ball off Freeland's pitching arm, but he remained in the game. Cain got a glove up and deflected Carlos Gonzalez's whizzer at his ear, and shortstop Kelby Tomlinson picked up the carom for a forceout that stranded the bases loaded in the third.
Cain also managed to get DJ LeMahieu, who has nine hits the first three games of this series, to fly out to strand two runners in the fourth.
But the Rockies pushed ahead in the fifth thanks in part to Cain's inattention and a passed ball. Ian Desmond hit a two-out single and got a better jump than Bob Beamon on Cain while stealing second base. Then an apparent cross-up with Hundley resulted in a fastball off the mask of plate umpire Gabe Morales as Desmond took third. He scored on Trevor Story's single up the middle.
The Rockies scored three runs against reliever Bryan Morris, including a pair when Hunter Pence's woes in right field continued. He couldn't catch Pat Valaika's blooper, which went for a two-out double.
The Giants had 10 hits but went 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Brandon Belt, who is hitless in the series and received a break Saturday, struck out as a pinch hitter to strand two runners in the sixth. His average is down to .220.
The Giants also forsook tradition by wearing blue hats for Father's Day weekend. Now let this thought settle in your gut: any Dodgers fan with good sense is rooting for the Giants to win this weekend.
