Streaking Giants eye three-game sweep of Rockies

The San Francisco Giants saw their string of one-run victories end on Wednesday, but their winning streak is intact.

San Francisco rallied for the second straight night to beat the Colorado Rockies 10-7 for its seventh consecutive win, and they Giants will go for a sweep of the three-game series on Thursday in Denver.

Right-hander Hayden Birdsong (3-1, 2.55 ERA) takes the mound against Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela (1-10, 6.68).

On Wednesday night, the Giants were an inning away from making history. They entered the game with six straight one-run victories and were poised to tie the 1927 Chicago Cubs with their seventh in a row. They led 7-6 entering the final inning, but they added three runs to pull away.

With history missed, San Francisco can focus on getting its eighth consecutive win with Birdsong on the hill.

In three career appearances (two starts) against Colorado, Birdsong is 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA. The 23-year-old Illinois native threw two scoreless innings of relief versus the Rockies on May 2.

Birdsong likely will be pitching to catcher Logan Porter, who had his contract purchased from Triple-A Sacramento on Wednesday. Porter replaced backup Patrick Bailey, who landed on the 10-day injured list due to a neck strain.

“It’s really hard to not have a second catcher and (Bailey) just didn’t get that much better (Wednesday),” manager Bob Melvin said. “Didn’t feel like we’re in position to try to push it to (Thursday). The prudent thing to do was to IL him right now.”

Porter entered as a defensive replacement on Wednesday night and struck out in his lone at-bat. It was his first major league game since 2023, when he was with the Kansas City Royals.

He signed a minor league contract with San Francisco in the offseason, and he hit .237 with two homers and 13 RBIs in 40 games for Triple-A Sacramento.

Porter had a chance to work with the Giants’ pitchers in spring training.

“It should just be an easy transition, and I’m familiar with the bullpen,” he said.

Senzatela is looking for his first win since April 20 and just the eighth by a Colorado starter this season. Senzatela came out of the bullpen in his most recent game, entering in the second inning behind opener Ryan Rolison on Friday, and he threw four scoreless innings against the New York Mets.

In 14 career appearances (12 starts) against the Giants, Senzatela is 5-3 with a 4.52 ERA. He lost at San Francisco on May 2 after permitting four runs on seven hits in five innings.

While the Rockies’ rotation has struggled, the bullpen has been mostly solid, led by Jake Bird. The fourth-year veteran has not allowed an earned run in his past 10 appearances — 11 innings — and he tied the franchise record for consecutive strikeouts by a reliever.

Bird entered he Tuesday game in the fifth inning with a runner on first and no outs, and he struck out three in a row. He fanned the first two batters in the sixth inning to extend his streak to eight overall dating back to his Friday outing vs. the Mets.

“He has one hundred percent confidence in himself,” said interim manager Warren Schaeffer, whose team has lost five games in a row. “He knows he’s good, he believes he’s good — even when he hasn’t gone well, like last year, he still thinks he’s the best pitcher. There’s huge value in that.

“What he’s doing is quite impressive.”

–Field Level Media