Major League Baseball
San Francisco 4, Colorado 3
When: 10:15 PM ET, Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Where: AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
Temperature: 67°
Umpires: Home - Chris Guccione, 1B - Dana DeMuth, 2B - Paul Nauert, 3B - Carlos Torres
Attendance: 40686

SAN FRANCISCO -- The playoff-contending Colorado Rockies flexed their muscles at AT&T Park on Tuesday night.

When all was said and done, they walked away feeling like weaklings.

The San Francisco Giants parlayed a dribbler, a bunt, a grounder and fly ball into a tiebreaking, ninth-inning run, using Hunter Pence's sacrifice fly to record a 4-3, walk-off victory over the Rockies.

"You don't come in here thinking home run," Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez said of his team's loud but generally unproductive night at the plate. "You need quality at-bats. Get on base, get a hit, get good pitching ...

"That's the way the Giants played when they won three World Series in this ballpark. That's the mentality you need coming into this ballpark."

Pence earlier hit a two-run homer, and Pablo Sandoval collected three hits for the Giants, who beat the Rockies for the fifth time in eight meetings at AT&T Park this season.

The loss left Colorado (82-69) only one game ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers for the second National League wild card. The St. Louis Cardinals are 3 1/2 games behind the Rockies.

"You can't cry about losing games," Gonzalez said. "Keep moving forward. We'd be in playoff position if the season ended today. We're in the driver's seat."

Sandoval opened the ninth against left-hander Chris Rusin (5-1) with his third hit of the night, a slow roller up the third base line.

Ryder Jones then placed a bunt between Rusin and onrushing Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, reaching safely when Rusin's hurried throw pulled DJ LeMahieu off first base. Jones was credited with a hit, which advanced pinch runner Orlando Calixte to second.

Pinch hitter Kelby Tomlinson then grounded a soft single into right field, loading the bases, before Pence lined a shot to center field that Gonzalez caught on the run. Calixte scored without a throw.

"I think it's extremely important to keep that passion, all of us," Pence said of the final two weeks of a postseason-less season for the Giants. "It's not just about the standings. We love competing and getting out here and playing. (It's) what we love to do."

The walk-off was the 12th of Pence's career and the eighth for the Giants this season.

Right-hander Sam Dyson, the fourth Giants pitcher, got the win after pitching into and out of a ninth-inning jam. He improved to 3-2 with the Giants, 4-8 overall this yera.

Dyson stranded the potential go-ahead run at second base by getting LeMahieu to ground out with two on and two outs.

The Rockies trailed 3-2 before doubles by Gonzalez and Gerardo Parra in the eighth inning against Giants reliever Hunter Strickland got them even.

The run was the first allowed by the San Francisco bullpen in 13 1/3 innings.

The inning included a near-homer by Arenado, one of five fly balls the Rockies hit to or near the warning track on a night when they couldn't get one to go out.

Pence's homer, his 12th of the season, was a no-doubter. It traveled 444 feet, his longest of the season.

It followed a single by Giants starter Johnny Cueto in the fifth inning and flipped a 2-1 deficit into a one-run lead against Rockies right-hander German Marquez.

Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford joined Sandoval in the multi-hit category for the Giants, who had lost 10 of their previous 15 home games.

"We need it," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Sandoval's recent surge, which included a rare home run from the right side of the plate Sunday. "We haven't been getting much production out of the (corner infielders). It's good to get him hot."

Parra and Ian Desmond had two hits apiece, and Charlie Blackmon added a two-run double for the Rockies, who had won eight of their previous 10 on the road.

The Giants outhit the Rockies 12-10.

Marquez left for a pinch hitter in the top of the seventh, trailing 3-2. He allowed eight hits and three runs in six innings, during which he walked one and struck out five.

The pinch hitter, Raimel Tapia, drilled a two-out single off Cueto, ending the veteran's night.

Left-hander Steven Okert came on to retire Blackmon on a fly ball to center field to retain the Giants' one-run lead.

Cueto limited the Rockies to two runs and seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked four and struck out six.

Blackmon's double came with two outs in the third and gave the Rockies a 2-0 lead. Trevor Story, who had walked, and Desmond, who had singled, scored on the liner to the fence in left-center field.

The hit was Blackmon's 200th of the season. The NL's leading hitter was the first to reach the milestone in 2017.

Sandoval's second hit, a fourth-inning single, drove in Posey.

NOTES: Rockies CF Charlie Blackmon became the eighth player in franchise history to record 200 hits in a season, the first since LF Matt Holliday in 2007. LF Dante Bichette holds the franchise record for hits in a season with 219. ... Rockies 2B DJ LeMahieu's first-inning single was his 29th hit against the Giants this season. It is the most ever for a Colorado player in a season against the Giants, and the most against San Francisco since San Diego Padres RF Tony Gwynn had 30 in 1989. ... The Rockies were playing their fourth of 12 straight games against non-contenders. They are 2-2 in those games.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Colorado   San Francisco
German Marquez Player Johnny Cueto
No Decision W/L No Decision
6.0 IP 6.2
5 Strikeouts 6
8 Hits 7
4.50 ERA 2.70
Hitting
Colorado   San Francisco
Ian Desmond Player Pablo Sandoval
2 Hits 3
0 RBI 1
0 HR 0
2 TB 3
.667 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Colorado 10 0 13 .312 17 7 3 5 1 0
San Francisco 12 1 16 .343 13 7 4 1 1 0