Giants save their worst for last

AT&T PARK — The Giants bullpen absolutely imploded in the ninth inning of Friday night’s game against the Colorado Rockies.

Photos by Godofredo Vasquez/SFBay

Closer Sergio Romo (BS, L, 3-2, 4.61 ERA) came into the game with a 4-2 lead and the Rockies shipped him off after three runs and long walk back to the dugout.

George Kontos came in to relieve Romo and surrendered two of Romo’s runners to end the night in a 7-4 Rockies victory.

Romo couldn’t figure out what happened during the late-game meltdown:

“I really got no explanation for it. I thought I was making good pitches. I was trying to compete. I guess it’s their night, their inning.”

Mananger Bruce Bochy thought Romo looked a little off on the mound:

“It’s obvious he wasn’t as sharp.”

When told Bochy’s thoughts, Romo rebuttled:

“I’m actually kind of surprised Bochy thinks I was a little off because I didn’t feel off at all.”

Romo chuckled and said what happened in the ninth was just “baseball.”

Tim Lincecum had a solid night and got through the first two innings scoreless, but ran into two runs worth of problems in the third.

After loading the bases and getting Troy Tulowitzki to pop out to third base, Justin Morneau beat the shift for a two-run, two-out single to right field to give the Rockies an early 2-0 lead.

Lincecum pitched six innings of three-hit ball while walking two, striking out six and taking a tough no-decision

Bochy said he was impressed with his starter’s performance:

“I thought he had real good stuff. He did have good velocity. He threw some great secondary pitches too … He should feel good about what he did. It’s a shame we couldn’t hold on to give him a win.”

In his second consecutive quality start, Lincecum spent much of the night touching 93-94 MPH on his a fastball, a feat he hasn’t done too often since his Cy Young seasons.

He thinks his mechanics are a big part of his successful outings:

“Just trying to stay consistent with my mechanics that I found between starts… Mechanically, I’ve been there, but not [velocity]. It’s nice to see that.”

After being tagged for two runs in the third, the Giants answered back in the bottom of the frame with two runs of their own on Hunter Pence and Michael Morse singles to tie the game 2-2.

Morse went 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBIs and delivered a go-ahead run in the fifth inning with a double that Drew Stubbs booted in centerfield to make the score 3-2.

The righty slugger ditched his helmet between first and second and wound up on third with an RBI and a gigantic grin that lit up AT&T Park brighter than tonight’s honey moon.

Pence padded the lead after he scampered home on a wild pitch in the seventh inning to make it 4-2.

LaTroy Hawkins slammed the door on the Giants for his 12th save of the season. Matt Belisle (W, 1-2, 5.00 ERA) picked up the win after a scoreless eighth inning.

Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa left the game after three innings with lower back tightness.

The Giants will try to take back the series when Ryan Vogelsong (4-3, 3.84 ERA) will take on righty Christian Bergman (0-1, 3.00 ERA) Saturday. Game time is 1:05 p.m.

Notes

Sergio Romo allowed a career-high five runs in tonight’s game for his third blown save of the season and second against Colorado. … The Giants are now 35-1 when leading after eight innings this season. … Michael Morse has 44 RBIs this season. 25 of them have come with two outs.

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