​SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Casey Schmitt, Bryce Eldridge and Willy Adames each homered to support rookie Carson Whisenhunt as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Colorado Rockies 8-2 on Thursday night to open a four-game series. Whisenhunt (2-0) allowed two runs on three hits over 5 2/3 innings in his second start this season and seventh of his career, striking out four and walking four while 57 of his 87 pitches were strikes.
JT Brubaker retired all four batters he faced before Erik Miller struck out two in a scoreless eighth. Caleb Kilian closed with two punchouts in the ninth.
Schmitt belted his 18th homer, a two-out shot off Ryan Feltner (3-3) to give San Francisco a 1-0 lead in the first. He also had an RBI double after a two-out, bases-empty single by Luis Arraez helped ignite a four-run eighth against reliever TJ Shook. Rafael Devers added a ground-rule RBI double preceding Adames’ 15th homer to cap the rally.
Eldridge became the first Giant this season to launch a ball into McCovey Cove, tying the game at 2-2 in the fourth with his eighth homer of the year. Arraez doubled in the go-ahead run in the fifth, and Devers followed with an RBI single to push the lead to 4-2. With one out and the bases loaded, Victor Vodnik replaced Feltner and retired Eldridge on a lineout before striking out Victor Bericoto, who left the game with an apparent injury.
In the fourth, Hunter Goodman led off with a single and scored on Willi Castro’s seventh homer, a two-out blast that put Colorado up 2-1. Feltner went 4 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and four walks, though he had previously defeated the Giants twice this season. Shook was touched for four runs on six hits over two innings.
Looking ahead, Giants left-hander Robbie Ray is slated to start Friday against Rockies right-hander Tanner Gordon. Ray carries an 8-6 record with a 3.45 ERA, while Gordon is 0-2 with a 6.95 ERA. The AP MLB coverage continues at https://apnews.com/hub/mlb.