DENVER -- The Giants have made a habit of stunning teams with late comebacks this year, a plucky tendency that helped them rally for back-to-back wins at Coors Field this week. But in Thursday’s series finale, they ended up watching the Rockies steal their playbook.
An uncharacteristically shaky outing from Randy Rodríguez and a costly error by third baseman Casey Schmitt allowed the Rockies to score three runs in the bottom of the ninth and come away with an 8-7 walk-off win that halted the Giants’ seven-game winning streak.
The stinging defeat cost the Giants (40-29) a chance to move into a tie with the Dodgers (41-28) for first place in the National League West. San Francisco will instead head to Los Angeles one game back of its longtime archrival, setting the stage for a momentous three-game series that begins on Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
“Obviously, we wanted the sweep, but baseball happens,” said right-hander Hayden Birdsong, who didn’t factor into the decision after permitting three runs over six innings. “It’s just how baseball goes. We just deal with it and move on. Let’s go to L.A. and beat them.”
First baseman Dominic Smith went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and launched his first home run of the season to give the Giants a 7-2 lead in the fifth, but Colorado managed to chip away at the deficit before mounting its final uprising in the ninth.
With closer Camilo Doval unavailable, the Giants handed a two-run lead to Rodríguez, who entered the game with a 0.61 ERA, the lowest mark in the Majors among pitchers who have thrown at least 20 innings this year. Rodríguez had issued only three walks over 29 1/3 innings in 2025, but he gave out a pair of free passes to Sam Hilliard and Ryan McMahon, and surrendered a line drive to former Giant Thairo Estrada, who reached on a double after left fielder Heliot Ramos misplayed the ball.
Rodríguez nearly escaped the jam after inducing a potential game-ending double play ball from Brenton Doyle, but Schmitt booted the grounder, allowing Hilliard to score and bring the Rockies within one.
"I was right there and it just hopped up," Schmitt said. "It feels bad. It sucks. I was in a good position to turn two right there."
Rodríguez struck out the next batter, Hunter Goodman, but he couldn’t shut the door after giving up a two-out, game-winning single to Orlando Arcia on his 43rd and final pitch of the inning. The 25-year-old right-hander was charged with three runs (one earned), marking the first damage he’d allowed since April 29.
"Two defensive plays affected that inning," manager Bob Melvin said. "Little things like that that we've been pretty good at, especially in these tight games."
After falling short of a three-game sweep, the Giants will have to turn the page quickly and shift their attention to their first matchup of the season against the Dodgers. Friday’s series opener will feature a matchup between two early Cy Young favorites -- Logan Webb (2.58 ERA) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2.20 ERA) -- which should set the tone for an entertaining clash at Chavez Ravine this weekend.
“It’s the Giants and the Dodgers, regardless of where it is in the standings,” Melvin said. “You watch them every day. You know the personnel. They’re a little banged up on the pitching end. We’re a little banged up on the position player end. I think everybody is aware of what the personnel is going to look like. If you look at the numbers, it’s a great offensive club. They have a lot of depth in the organization on the pitching end as well. Their record is their record for a reason. They were the world champions. It’s going to be a good test.”
The Giants will be without two key position players in third baseman Matt Chapman (right hand inflammation) and Patrick Bailey (neck strain), but they’ll still head to Los Angeles with some positive momentum after watching several other hitters -- including Willy Adames, Mike Yastrzemski and Schmitt -- break out at Coors this week.
Smith joined the party on Thursday, as he singled in each of his first two at-bats against Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela before crushing a three-run shot in the fifth. Smith’s first home run for the Giants traveled a Statcast-projected 433 feet and landed in the second deck in right field. The 29-year-old is now batting .320 with an .825 OPS, seven RBIs and a stolen base in eight games since signing with San Francisco as a free agent last week.
“I’ve been grinding the last week, trying to find the swing, trying to not do too much,” Smith said. “I know it’s a team game. It takes all of us to win. When you come in, you want to show your new team what you can do and really help. I’m trying to keep it simple up there. Put together good ABs, get on base when I can and play defense. That’s what this team does really well. We’ve just got to keep going.”