MLB GAME RECAP

Rockies rock Giants in 8-2 win

The Sports Xchange

April 22, 2014 at 1:29 am.

Right fielder Charlie Blackmon hit two homers for his first career multi-home run game. Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

DENVER — Even at hitter-friendly Coors Field, the San Francisco Giants’ offensive struggles continued Monday night in an 8-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

Compounding the problems for the Giants was the fact that they had to use three pitchers in the first three innings.

Starter Ryan Vogelsong was knocked out in the second inning and David Huff, who faced one batter, left with a left quadriceps strain after beating out an infield hit in the third. It was the first career hit for Huff, who gave way to Yusmeiro Petit in the bottom of the third, and appears bound for the disabled list.

“It doesn’t look good,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Huff. “He’s going to get an MRI on his left quad. He did a pretty good job on it. More than likely, he’s probably heading toward the DL.”

The Rockies hit a season-high five homers, three in 1 1/3 innings off Vogelsong, who yielded four runs in a 44-pitch first inning and another in the second before leaving in the shortest of his 82 starts with the Giants.

“I just didn’t throw good pitches,” Vogelsong said. “Never got into a rhythm and just didn’t throw the ball where I wanted to and how I wanted to. It’s embarrassing, really.”

Five home runs are the most the Rockies have hit against the Giants at Coors Field. They had hit four in a game five times, the last time on Sept. 18, 2006.

The Giants, who suffered their most lopsided loss of the season, have scored 11 runs in their past six games. During that span, they are hitting .168 (31-for-185). They went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, leaving them 3-for-31 (.097) in such situations in their past five games. The loss was the fourth in five games for the Giants (11-9).

Meanwhile, the Rockies, who are 11-10 overall, improved to 7-3 at home. They are 3-1 while scoring 32 runs during the current homestand that ends with the three-game series.

Right fielder Charlie Blackmon hit two homers for his first career multi-home run game. Third baseman Nolan Arenado, who batted second for the first time this season and 10th time in his career, catcher Wilin Rosario and outfielder Corey Dickerson also hit home runs for the Rockies, who scored seven runs in the first three innings.

Carlos Gonzalez, who hits third, and cleanup hitter Troy Tulowitzki combined to go 0-for-6 with three strikeouts.

“The middle of the order didn’t do all the damage,” Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. “It was guys up and down the lineup. That’s what we’ve got to be able to do. We can’t count on ‘CarGo’ and ‘Tulo’ to do all the damage — not that we ever do. We don’t count on those guys just to do it. But it’s nice when the rest of the lineup is doing some damage. I feel like we have a lineup that’s got some length to it. It can hurt you throughout.”

Starter Jorge De La Rosa won his first game of the season and allowed one run but lasted just five innings because he threw 102 pitches and only 59 strikes. Relievers Tommy Kahnle, Adam Ottavino and Chad Bettis combined to hold the Giants to one unearned run in the final four innings.

The Giants finished with six hits — five singles and right fielder Hunter Pence’s double — and struck out 11 times.

San Francisco scored its first run in the third when catcher Buster Posey grounded into a double play with no outs and the bases loaded. And they scored in the ninth when pitcher Chad Bettis fielded a comebacker but bounced his throw to first base.

After third baseman Pablo Sandoval reached on Arenado’s error to start the fourth, first baseman Brandon Belt singled. But De La Rosa got Brandon Hicks to ground into a double play and Brandon Crawford to fly out.

“He pitched into some trouble,” Weiss said of De La Rosa, “but pitched out of it, which is a good sign. Pitching out of jams, that’s what he’s struggled with early on. Last year, he was so good at it. Whenever he’d get into traffic, he’d get a double-play ball and pitch his way out of it.”

Arenado extended his career-high hitting streak to 12 games.

NOTES: Giants CF Angel Pagan was ejected in the seventh inning by home plate umpire John Tumpane on Monday night after arguing a called third strike. … Rockies RF Michael Cuddyer (left hamstring strain) was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Friday. INF Charlie Culberson was recalled from Triple-A Colorado Springs to take Cuddyer’s place on the roster. … Giants RHP Ryan Vogelsong’s shortest start came with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sept. 24, 2004, against the Cincinnati Reds, when he did not retire any of the seven batters he faced and allowed seven runs, four hits and three walks. … Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval, who entered Monday hitting .171, was back in the lineup after being given Sunday off to get a mental break. Four hitless at-bats dropped his average to .162. … Rockies 1B Justin Morneau was named National League Player of the Week for April 14-20. In seven games, he hit .375 with three doubles, three homers, 12 RBIs and six runs scored. … Rockies RHP Jhoulys Chacin (left shoulder strain) is scheduled to throw 75-80 pitches on Thursday for Triple-A Colorado Springs when he makes his third rehab start.