Rockies’ Kyle Freeland struggles as Giants romp behind Kevin Gausman

The pride of Grandview High School bested the pride of Thomas Jefferson on Monday afternoon at Coors Field. It wasn’t close.

In a rare matchup of Colorado native starters, Grandview’s Kevin Gausman pitched San Francisco to an easy 10-5 victory over Kyle Freeland’s Rockies. Gausman was on point, Freeland was anything but.

Gausman, a 2010 graduate, pitched seven solid innings, limiting the Rockies to three runs on five hits. He struck out nine and walked only one.

The Giants hammered Freeland, a 2011 T.J. graduate, for seven runs on nine hits, including four homers. Many of the southpaw’s pitches floated up in the strike zone.

“I wasn’t sharp with any of my pitches,” said Freeland, who continues to deal with an impingement in his left hip. “When you have that kind of mix against the best team in baseball, it’s a recipe for disaster.”

Still, Freeland appreciated the game’s Colorado flavor.

“Obviously, I wish we could have had a better battle,” Freeland said. “He’s a pitcher I enjoy watching. I’ve known about him for a long time and he’s putting together one hell of a season.

“So to be able to watch him and match up against him — two Colorado kids going at it at Coors Field — is really cool. So, hats off to him for what he did today.”

After giving up a leadoff solo homer to Ryan McMahon in the second, Gausman didn’t give up another hit until the sixth when Raimel Tapia singled and scored on Charlie Blackmon’s triple. By then, the Giants had the game well in hand.

Garrett Hampson nicked Gausman for a two-out, solo homer in the seventh.

When Gausman came off the field at the end of the seventh inning, the orange-clad Giants fans behind the visitor’s dugout gave the right-hander a standing ovation. No doubt so did Gausman’s father, Clair, who brought most of the family to Monday’s game. Clair Gausman is a retired sixth-grade science teacher who moonlighted as a college football referee. He’s now a college replay official.

Gausman had 14 swings and misses on his four-seam fastball, a season-high.

“Really, from the get-go, I knew I had some play up in the zone, if that’s what you want to call it,” he said “With the swings they were taking early in the game, I knew if I could locate up in the zone and not miss my spot, I felt like I was going to have success. (Catcher) Buster (Posey) definitely noticed that too and called a lot of fastballs up, and we executed them.”

When Freeland pitches with precision, he’s a very good pitcher. But he didn’t execute well against the Giants.

“The hits they got were on pitches up,” manager Bud Black said. “As we know, Kyle’s strength is down, down, down and then elevate when he needs to. Then go in on a lefty or a righty. But again, most of his pitches were up.”

Freeland pitched only one inning in his last start on Wednesday at Texas, departing in the second inning with a left hip impingement.

“I don’t believe it was the hip,” Freeland when asked for a reason for his poor start. “It didn’t feel 100%. But at the same time, everyone’s working with some sort of little injury or tweak. That can’t be an excuse. I wasn’t able to finish my pitches today. A lot of stuff up in the zone had very little action.”

That was clear from the beginning.

Darin Ruf led off with a homer to left and two batters later, Posey launched a solo shot to right. Thairo Estrada led off the fourth with a solo blast to left and also hit a two-run homer to left-center in the fifth.

Freeland has been solid at Coors Field this season, and excellent in his last six starts, posting a 2.91 ERA. But his command lost its compass Monday and he needed 92 pitches (55) strikes to get through his four-plus innings.

With an 88-50 record, the Giants lead the National League West and own the best record in the majors. They showed why on Monday, bullying the Rockies with 15 hits. The Giants’ 206 homers are their most in a season since they hit a franchise-best 235 homers in 2001.

Gausman was not only precise on the mound — he threw 98 pitches, 75 for strikes — he also helped himself at the plate. In the Giants’ two-run fourth, Gausman fouled off a bunt attempt and then swung away against Freeland, hitting a chopper past drawn-in the drawn-in McMahon for an RBI single. Gausman, who’s batting .200, owns nine of the 17 hits by Giants pitchers this season.

Monday marked Gausman’s first time pitching at Coors Field — in front of fans — since he’s been in the majors.

He made three starts vs. Colorado last season, going 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA, and two of those starts were at Coors. But because of the pandemic, there were no fans in the stands. And though he was selected to this year’s All-Star Game in Denver, he didn’t pitch because he had made a start the day before the All-Star break.

“I think it was close to 30, maybe over 30. A lot of people,” he said of his hometown contingent.  “It’s weird, this is my fourth start here maybe and this is the first time they’ve been able to come and see me.

“It was nice to know that they’re there, and they don’t get to see me play very often, so that was pretty cool.”