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Wilmer Flores, SF Giants miraculously avert disaster in 9-8 win over Rockies

The SF Giants showed plenty of their flaws on Friday, but they also showed a ton of grit in a wild comeback win over the Colorado Rockies.

Marc Delucchi

Wilmer Flores, SF Giants miraculously avert disaster in 9-8 win over Rockies
Wilmer Flores, SF Giants miraculously avert disaster in 9-8 win over Rockies /
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The SF Giants sent rookie southpaw Kyle Harrison to the mound on Friday night against a Colorado Rockies team on pace to lose 100 games. For much of the game, it seemed like several mistakes would overshadow a solid outing from Harrison. Instead, they gutted out a 9-8 win and improved to 71-70 on the season.

SF Giants starting pitcher Kyle Harrison pitches the ball against the Colorado Rockies during the first inning at Oracle Park on September 8, 2023.
SF Giants SP Kyle Harrison pitches against the Rockies on September 8, 2023 / Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

No one will walk away from the game talking about Harrison. No one will walk away talking about the Giants as a surefire playoff team. But plenty of teams have folded in similar situations over the years, and the Giants simply refused to. They're supposed to be a better team than the Rockies, and they were able to at least live up to that. Given how bad things have been recently, that's a start.

Harrison's velocity was down a tick from his first few outings as a big leaguer, but that's not out of the ordinary, given how limited his usage has been this season. Harrison's heater sat in the low 90s at times during his minor-league career, and he was able to keep his fastball in the 91-94 mph range throughout his entire outing. Harrison was charged with four runs (three earned) on five hits (one home run) and two walks with five strikeouts across 5+ innings pitched.

Harrison retired the Rockies in order in the top of the first inning, and Luis Matos and Wilmer Flores started the bottom of the first inning with singles against Rockies starter Ty Blach. They were both stranded.

Blach, a former Giants starter who was designated for assignment by the team back in 2019, has been an effective contact pitcher this season in Colorado. He entered play with 28 strikeouts in 54 innings pitched this season. Yet, facing San Francisco on Friday night, Blach racked up six strikeouts and double-digit whiffs across five shutout innings- at least, before things fell apart.

With one out in the top of the second, J.D. Davis made a fielding error behind Harrison, allowing Brendan Rogers to reach base. Harrison jammed the next hitter, Elehuris Montero, but he managed to hit the ball far enough away from the shift for a single.

With runners on the corners, Harrison surrendered his first hard-hit fly ball of the game to Hunter Goodman, who lined a triple to center field. Matos was shading left-center but took a bad route to the ball and probably should have been able to hold him to a double.

Matos' mistake may have cost Harrison another run. The next batter, Sean Bouchard managed an infield single just out in front of home plate. With Goodman at third, catcher Joey Bart hesitated to vacate his position and field the ball in case there was a play at home. That meant Harrison had to charge in further to try and throw Bouchard out at first. Bouchard beat the throw and was credited with an RBI.

Matos doubled to lead off the bottom of the third inning. His line drive to left field jumped off his bat at 103.6 mph, but he also benefitted from some poor defense from Bouchard. A better read probably results in a flyout, but the Giants were in no position to be picky.

Just like in the bottom of the first, Flores followed up Matos' hit with a single. The ball was hit at Matos, who thought Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar had shifted behind him. While the ball went straight into center field, Matos had turned around and stepped toward second base. Despite Matos' bad jump, third-base coach Mark Hallberg sent him home anyway.

Rockies center fielder Nolan Jones came through the minor leagues as a third baseman and has an excellent arm. With nobody out, it did not seem like the time to be aggressive. Jones threw Matos out by multiple steps and effectively ended the Giants' rally before it started.

Harrison held the Rockies scoreless for the next three innings before a home run by Jones to lead off the sixth led manager Gabe Kapler to remove him from the game. Jakob Junis entered and did not allow a run in the sixth.

Blach had cruised through five innings, but Matos led off the sixth with a walk. Then, Flores crushed a sinker from Blach above the zone to the left field bleachers for a two-run homer. Of course, Flores, the Giants' lone impressive hitter over the past few months, would deliver the first blow. But San Francisco wasn't done.

Blach got Mitch Haniger out in front of a changeup, but the powerful righty showed off his power with a solo home run of his own. 

Then, Davis drove a sinker from Blach down the middle 413' for the game-tying home run. The Giants offense had suddenly come to life with back-to-back-to-back home runs, and the game was tied at four. For the briefest of moments, the Giants had life again. But it wouldn't last for long.

Junis allowed a one-out single to Alan Trejo, and Kapler turned to southpaw Taylor Rogers with lefty Charlie Blackmon due up. Rogers struck out Blackmon but surrendered a single to Tovar before Elías Díaz smashed a three-run homer to put Colorado ahead 7-4. 

It could have easily been over there. Instead, Mike Yastrzemski led off the seventh inning with a pinch-hit single against Matt Koch. Blake Sabol came to the plate and quickly fell behind in the count 0-2, but Sabol did not miss his third straight cutter and lined his 12th home run of the season to center field.

With the Giants now trailing 7-6, Matos built upon his excellent day at the plate with a double to center field that was just a couple of feet shy of a game-tying home run. All of a sudden, the Giants had the tying run in scoring position with nobody out for Flores.

Rockies manager Bud Black made a pitching change, bringing in Jake Bird. Bird surrendered a line drive to Flores... but this time, Bouchard ranged to his left and made the catch. Then, LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a pinch-hit pop out to shallow right-center field. So, Davis came to the plate with two outs. He struck out on three pitches. Inning over, still down by a run.

The Giants still weren't done.

John Brebbia held the Rockies scoreless in the top of the eighth, and a pair of Giants singles put runners on the corners with one out for Yastrzemski against Bird in the bottom half of the eighth. Yastrzemski managed to get a ground ball through the infield for a game-tying RBI single. Then, Sabol was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Matos.

Matos watched the first three pitches from lefty Evan Justice go by to get ahead in the count 2-1. Justice found the zone to even things up. After Matos fouled off a couple of offerings, he took a fastball that was several inches inside, off the plate. But it was called strike three, so up to the plate came Flores.

Justice once again fell behind in the count, and this time, was unable to recover. He walked Flores to drive in a run, and with the lead now lost, Justice walked Wade, too. All of a sudden, the Giants led 9-7.

With a two-run lead heading into the ninth, closer Camilo Doval headed to the mound. The righty made things interesting, allowing two hits, a run, and the tying run to reach scoring position, but managed to record his 36th save of the season.

Somehow, some way, the Giants found a way to win. Say what you want about this obviously flawed team, but they have dealt with several seemingly backbreaking moments this season. For now, as unlikely as it sounds, their spine is still intact.

Whether or not the Giants have a chance to make the playoffs in 2023, several youngsters continued to show some positive development. Matos had arguably his best big-league performance at the plate, and Casey Schmitt had a lineout with a 110.3 mph exit velocity. Harrison, Matos, and Schmitt have all looked like players who can help San Francisco win games in 2024 over the past few weeks.

The SF Giants will return to Oracle Park on Saturday night, trying to steady a sinking ship. San Francisco has ace Logan Webb slated to face off against Chase Anderson. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 PM Pacific.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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