SAN FRANCISCO --
And the Rockies had a wider-reaching concern that turned out as well as could be expected -- in a year of worst-case scenarios.\n\nStarting pitcher
Good pitching injury news has been hard to come by this year.\n\nBut before lefty Kyle Freeland returned from a left groin injury with two encouraging innings at Dodger Stadium on Saturday night, the Rockies had the distinction of having all five of their season-opening starters on the injured list for about a month. Tyler Anderson (surgery for a left knee chondral defect) was gone by May, and by August Jon Gray (left foot surgery), German Márquez (right arm inflammation) and Chad Bettis (bilateral hip surgery), who had moved to the bullpen, were on the shelf.\n\nSo Hoffman and the Rockies were thanking their previously unlucky stars.\n\n“The last thing I wanted to do was end my season like that -- not on my own terms,” Hoffman said. “But to have pain like that and 20-30 minutes later get the good news, it was a big relief. I’m just happy that nothing crazy happened.”\n\nWell, the game had plenty of craziness.\n\n• The teams used a combined Major League record 25 pitchers, which surpassed the 24 the Rockies and Dodgers used in a 16-inning affair Sept. 16, 2015. In that one, Nolan Arenado homered in the 16th -- a mark that Blackmon tied with his shot off Dereck Rodriguez.\n\n“It’s easy to try to do too much right there, try to do it all in one swing,” Blackmon said. “That’s really the wrong way to go about it. Just try to swing at good pitches at that point. That was a good pitch to hit.”
• The Rockies’ 11 relievers held the Giants to two runs and five hits, with current closer
Not only was Tuesday Hampson’s first multi-homer game, but his 3-for-6 night -- which included a hit preceding Blackmon’s homer -- brought his September to 23-for-62 (.317) with five of his seven total homers.\n\nBefore being hit, Hoffman gave up homers to Buster Posey and Bumgarner. Evan Longoria homered in the eighth off