The San Francisco Giants' bullpen faltered late, allowing the Colorado Rockies to rally for a 4-3 victory on Friday night. The loss marked another frustrating defeat for the Giants against their National League West rivals, continuing a pattern seen throughout the season.
Reliever Caleb Kilian was charged with the loss after entering the ninth inning with a one-run lead. Kilian allowed the first three batters he faced to reach base, including a walk, and all three eventually scored. This marked Kilian's third blown save in 11 opportunities, and he has now surrendered nine earned runs in his last six appearances, increasing his ERA to 4.74 from 2.97 before his last blown save.
Earlier in the game, reliever Dylan Smith entered a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the sixth inning and managed to escape the pressure without allowing any runs. This performance was a redemption for Smith, who had surrendered a go-ahead three-run homer in a previous outing against the Rockies.
Despite the bullpen's struggles, Rafael Devers provided offensive support for the Giants. He hit a solo home run in the second inning, his 19th of the season, and drove in all of the team's runs. Devers finished the game 3-for-3 with an intentional walk and a sacrifice fly. His recent power surge has him on pace to potentially reach 20 home runs before the All-Star break, a mark not achieved by a Giants hitter since Barry Bonds.
Starter Robbie Ray pitched five-plus innings, allowing one run and striking out six. However, he also issued six walks, struggling to find the strike zone consistently, with only 53 of his 100 pitches being strikes. This extended a trend of Ray limiting runs but also allowing a high number of baserunners via walks.
The Giants have now lost five of their eight matchups against the Rockies this season, a stark contrast to their performance against the team in previous years. They have lost as many games to the Rockies in 2026 as they did in the entire 2024 and 2025 seasons combined.
San Francisco will look to break their losing streak against Colorado when Tyler Mahle takes the mound on Saturday. Mahle is coming off an outing against the Rockies where he allowed four early runs.