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Buster Posey homers twice, drives in six in San Francisco Giants' win

By Jack Etkin, The Sports Xchange
San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner shakes hands with catcher Buster Posey (L). UPI/Terry Schmitt
San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner shakes hands with catcher Buster Posey (L). UPI/Terry Schmitt | License Photo

DENVER -- Hitting with runners in scoring position had been a problem this season for San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey. And right-handed pitchers had befuddled him.

Posey brushed aside those issues Saturday when he hit two three-run homers in the Giants' 10-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

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The win was the 14th in 16 games for the Giants. The Rockies had been 19-0 when leading after seven innings.

Posey's second homer kicked off the Giants' six-run eighth and came after he endured a long seventh behind the plate. He watched five relievers parade to the mound that inning as the Rockies scored four two-out runs to go ahead, 5-4.

"I felt alright," Posey said. "If I hadn't have got a hit, I probably wouldn't have felt as good. Homer made it even better."

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The two-homer game was the third of his career. Posey also tied his career-high with six RBIs. He entered the game 9-for-46 (.196) this season with runners in scoring position before giving the Giants a 3-0 lead in the first and putting them ahead 7-5 in the eighth.

Posey came into the game batting just .243/.295/.396 against right-handers before belting opposite-field homers to right center off right-handers Eddie Butler in the first and Carlos Estevez in the eighth.

"He can carry us," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "We don't want to put that pressure on him. But I think we're a club, we kind of feed off him. When he goes, I think it just relaxes everybody."

Posey's shot in the eighth came on a 2-0 fastball after Estevez (1-2) gave up singles to Joe Panik and Matt Duffy to start the inning.

"I got into hitters counts," Estevez said. "I got beat by the first two guys, and then I was missing my spots. That fastball was up and away, and he got all of it."

This would have been a difficult loss for the Giants to stomach as they blew a four-run lead and starter Madison Bumgarner kept the Rockies in check, in particular with a hectic sixth.

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He limited the Rockies to one run and five hits in six innings and whittled his ERA to 2.12. He escaped a no-outs, bases-loaded jam in the sixth. Bochy said he "willed his way" through the inning.

After singles by Arenado and Gonzalez. Mark Reynolds fouled off four consecutive 3-2 pitches before drawing a 10-pitch walk.

Bumgarner struck out Ryan Raburn on nine pitches. Cristhian Adames, who had hits in each of his first two at-bats to make him 4-for-5 lifetime against Bumgarmer, then grounded into a double play as shortstop Brandon Crawford made a nice play to his right on a hard-hit ball.

His 4-1 lead secure, Bumgarner shook his left fist as the troublesome inning ended, along with his 103-pitch workday.

"That's as bad a spot as you can be in, in the worst place to be in that spot," Bumgarner said.

With one out in the Colorado seventh, Javier Lopez was brought in to face left-handed hitters Gerardo Parra and Charlie Blackmon and walked them. Hunter Strickland struck out Trevor Story, but Arenado hit a two-run double, and Carlos Gonzalez hit a two-run homer off left-hander Josh Osich to give the Rockies a 5-4 lead.

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After Posey's second three-run shot and seventh homer of the season, the Giants pounded Gonzalez Germen for four hits and three runs. Jarrett Parker singled home the first run, and pitcher Cory Gearrin (1-0), who worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings, singled in his first career plate appearance to load the bases before Gregor Blanco's two-run single.

Attemping to sacrifice, Gearrin fouled off a bunt attempt. Bochy said when the count reached 0-2, he was hoping Gearrin would simply take a third strike. Instead, he lined a single to right.

"(Bochy) asked, 'Can you bunt?'" Gearring said. "I said, 'Definitely, let's go. That first pitch came in and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, that's really fast.'"

Posey's first three-run homer came after Butler created his own trouble. He walked Panik and hit Duffy with a pitch before Posey's opposite-field shot to right-center on a 1-0 pitch.

"That was a fastball that was supposed to be down and away and it runs back across the plate, kind of middle in at the knees and he drives it," Butler said.

Notes: Rockies CF Charlie Blackmon extended his career-high streak to 23 consecutive games reaching base safely. ... Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa made his first relief appearance since July 12, 2009, against Atlanta and pitched two scoreless innings. ... Rockies RHP Chad Qualls made his 800th career major-league appearance. ... Giants CF Denard Span was scratched from the lineup with a bruised right hip that he suffered when he banged into the wall in San Francisco on Wednesday. ... Giants RHP Chris Stratton was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento and will make his major league debut. He took the roster spot of RHP Matt Cain, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list after being forced to leave his start Friday night with a right hamstring strain. ... Giants 1B Brandon Belt returned to the lineup after missing one game with a mild left ankle sprain. ... Giants RF Hunter Pence was back in the lineup after not starting the past six games due to a right hamstring strain. ... Rockies RHP Adam Ottavino threw 21 pitches in batting practice for the first time since he underwent Tommy John surgery May 7, 2015. Barring a setback, he expects to throw batting practice two more times before beginning a rehab assignment.

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