Connor Norby gave the Rockies a couple of clean flashes on a rough Saturday in San Francisco, and both stood out in a 7-1 loss that otherwise belonged to the Giants and Logan Webb.
Norby, still looking for his first hit after going 0-for-9 in his Colorado debut Tuesday in Arizona, broke through in the seventh with a double to right field. Earlier, in the field, he showed quick hands on a Bryce Eldridge grounder and turned in a smooth defensive play that added to a solid all-around day.
“Yeah, I think it was huge for him,” said Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer. “Get the monkey off your back for the first time as a Rockie, that was great.
He's been taking really good at-bats. Norby’s been playing really well.”
The Rockies needed more of that kind of pop, because Webb was once again a problem. The right-hander entered the day with an 11-4 record and a 3.39 ERA in 21 career games, 20 starts, against Colorado, and he was even sharper at Oracle Park, where he had gone 7-1 with a 1.49 ERA in nine appearances, eight of them starts.
Colorado scratched out its only run against him in the third on Cole Carrigg’s RBI single to left. Aside from two bloop singles, that was about all the Rockies could muster. Webb then put together a stretch of 11 straight retired after Carrigg’s hit before leaving after six innings and 80 pitches because he began feeling tightness in his back and shoulder after taking a liner from Brett Sullivan in the fifth.
“Webb was really good,” said Schaeffer. “He was in, out, up, down, cutter in on the lefties' hands, changeup was good.
Four-seam at the top was really good. We just had no answer for him today.”
Michael Lorenzen had his own difficult afternoon for Colorado. The veteran right-hander opened the game with two walks and needed 25 pitches to get through the first inning, though he escaped without allowing a run. It marked the eighth straight start in which he has thrown at least 20 pitches in the first inning.
“A lot of 0-2 counts,” said Schaeffer. “First hitter of the game, 0-2 to [Drew] Gilbert, led to a walk.
Just had a tough time putting guys away. He was behind on the homer to Gilbert, but I just think the story of the day was he got ahead and just couldn't finish with a lot of foul balls, and they kept the at-bats alive.
They battled today.”
Lorenzen saw it the same way.
“Yeah, it's exactly right,” Lorenzen said. “Past few games, putting guys away. Felt like I get into good counts, and then I'm working deep counts, and then a ball in play, and then you start trying to kind of nibble a little bit, or make a better pitch, and then you start falling behind.”
The game stayed tied at 1 through three innings before the fourth inning unraveled. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for rookie Turner Hill, who lifted a fly ball to give the Giants the lead in his MLB debut. A hit-by-pitch and forceout followed, then Gilbert, who had given San Francisco its first hit off Lorenzen the inning before with a solo homer, lined a two-run single to right-center and chased Lorenzen.
Parker Mushinski took over and immediately ran into more trouble. Rafael Devers followed with an RBI double, Mushinski then uncorked a wild pitch that scored another run, and Bryce Eldridge capped the six-run inning with an RBI single.
The loss ended Colorado’s three-game winning streak, but Sunday still offers a chance to finish the season-long 11-day, nine-game trip through St. Louis, Arizona and San Francisco on a positive note. A win would give the Rockies a winning record on the road swing and seal a season-series victory over the Giants for the first time since 2020.
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