Giants' Bats Erupt Once Again On Saturday Night

Behind Buster Posey, the Giants got the bats going again to crank out 11 runs, beating the Rockies, 11-5.

Posey, who collected four hits and a home run last night, hit another home run on Saturday night to extend his home run streak to three games--- the first time he’s done that in his young career and the first Giants’ catcher to accomplish such a feat since Brian Johnson did it in 1988.

The Rockies’ starter for Saturday’s game, Jeff Francis came into the game searching for his 59th win as a Rockie, which would be the second most wins in Rockies history, but he left a fastball right out over the plate to Posey and he didn’t miss it, hitting a soaring fly ball deep into the left field bleachers. Posey, who owns a .393 batting average with three home runs and 12 RBI’s at Coors Field after he hit the first inning home run, wasn’t finished. He drove in his third run of the game in a four-run, game opening fourth inning for the Giants.

Madison Bumgarner received plenty of run support on Saturday--- a rarity, especially in his last three starts.

 Melky Cabrera continued the Giants’ long ball trend in the third, crushing a breaking ball from Francis very deep into the left field seats. Cabrera also walked a career-high four times, including a bases loaded walk in the in the fourth inning that pushed the Giants’ lead to six.

Joaquin Arias and Angel Pagan each drove in a run in the fourth inning on a pair of singles. Pagan would also drive in his second and third runs of the game on a single in the eighth, and a solo blast in the ninth, making him 7-10 this series with six runs scored, a triple, a double, a home run, and four RBIs. Yes, that’s the “series cycle” as you might call it.

Madison Bumgarner pitched six innings, gave up five hits, yielding just one run on seven strikeouts and only one walk. A lengthy first inning and a comfortable lead doomed his chances of going deep into the game, but he worked efficiently and did his job.

The Giants’ southpaw escaped a jam in the fifth inning. With runners on first and second, Bumgarner induced a double play ball, and struck out the pitcher to ultimately avoid a Coors Field classic.

Pinch-hitting, Gregor Blanco hit a sacrifice fly to deep centerfield, putting the Giants in double-digits for the second consecutive day. The last time San Francisco accomplished  this feat, was back in August of 2010 against Cincinnati.

Rockies’ shortstop Josh Rutledge poked a solo home run off Bumgarner in the sixth to break up his shutout. But Bumgarner avoided any further damage, and handed the game over to his struggling bullpen. Thankful for a big lead, Brad Penny, Clay Hensley, and Javier Lopez combined to surrender five runs, giving the Rockies a bit of hope to the end, but Santiago Casilla slammed the door shut in the ninth inning by getting Ramon Hernandez to ground out.

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