As much as the Colorado Rockies wanted to climb out of the National League West Division cellar, that's not happening right now. Casey Schmitt's three-run homer helped San Francisco Giants win 4-2.
It was a bitter pill to swallow for the Colorado Rockies on Saturday as they wanted to get into fourth place ahead of the MLB All-Star break.
With Saturday afternoon's 4-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park, it assures the Rockies that they'll be in the cellar until the break is over.
Casey Schmitt's three-run home run off of Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeman proved to be the difference. Colorado's Kyle Karros smoked a solo home run later in the game, but it was too little, too late.
These are the types of losses that might keep Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer up at night, too.
Let's take a look at four takeaways from the Rockies' loss in San Francisco at Oracle Park.
Freeman's strikeouts
For most of Saturday's start, Freeman was going along pretty well. Freeman ended up recording a season-high nine strikeouts against the Giants.
But he was not able to keep the Giants off the scoreboard at key times. Those moments ended up coming back to bite him and Colorado in the game.
Freeman falls to 2-8 with the loss. It was a tough one to take, but the Rockies' offense was pretty much nonexistent against the Giants on Saturday. Besides those nine strikeouts, Freeman allowed six hits, four earned runs, didn't walk a batter, and had his strikeouts, too.
Karros goes deep
Karros got his bat around on a Brubaker pitch and didn't miss it. He smoked that baseball high over the left-field wall, helping the Rockies cut into the Giants' lead at 4-2 at that point in the eighth inning.
Karros has been one of the best hitters for Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer this season. It was Karros' ninth home run this season.
He's now hitting .266 this season with an .809 OPS,
Mahle just too tough
Despite a poor overall record, Giants starter Tyler Mahle looked almost otherworldly on the mound. He now goes to 2-8 this season, too, as Mahle earned his second win this season.
Mahle worked seven innings, giving up five hits, one earned run, walked three, and struck out four. Giants reliever JT Brubaker earned his first save this season with two innings of relief.
Early shower for Tony Vitello
Well, Giants manager Tony Vitello wasn't in the dugout to celebrate his team's win.
Vitello got ejected in the third inning after arguing over a balk call against Mahle. Game umpires got together to wonder if Mahle had committed a balk.
Brett Sullivan opened the third inning with a double, then moved to third base on a groundout. After they got together, home plate umpire Lance Barksdale called for a balk and Sullivan scored the game's first run.
Vitello didn't like the way that the decision went down. He came out and started barking at Barksdale, who eventually ejected Vitello from the game. That opened the door for Vitello to get a couple of more shots in at Barksdale, then head to the Giants' clubhouse.
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