
SAN FRANCISCO — Matt Duffy’s Willie Mac Award will soon be followed by recognition as a Rookie of the Year finalist. For a couple of months, it looked like Chris Heston would be a big part of that race, too, but the right-hander ended his season on a sour note.
Heston has had a rough second half and his final start of his first MLB season was his worst yet, resulting in a 9-3 Giants loss to the Rockies. He was charged with a career-high eight earned runs and lasted just 3 2/3 innings. Still, Heston finished the year with a 3.95 ERA, proof of just how good he was before the All-Star break.
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Heston kept pace with ace Madison Bumgarner into late July, but the innings caught up with him down the stretch.
[PAVLOVIC: Rookie Matt Duffy wins 2015 Willie Mac Award]
The Rockies knocked Heston around Friday, with Nolan Arenado once again doing much of the damage. The All-Star third baseman hit a blast in the second that was his 10th against the Giants this year and his sixth at AT&T Park. Only two Giants, Duffy and Brandon Crawford, have more than six homers at AT&T Park this season. Corey Dickerson added a two-run shot, Arenado smacked a two-run double and Jose Reyes drove in two with a flare down the left-field line.
The Giants managed a run in the second when Brandon Crawford singled and raced home on Jarrett Parker’s double to right. Crawford’s double scored Jackson Williams and Kevin Frandsen in the eighth and that’s a sentence I never thought I would write.
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Starting pitching report: Heston’s rookie year: 177 2/3 innings, 3.95 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 141 strikeouts and a no-hitter.
Bullpen report: Yusmeiro Petit threw a bullpen session before the game to prepare for his Sunday start. Then he pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief of Heston. So, uh, Yusmeiro Petit may not be starting Sunday.
At the plate: Mac Williamson drove a high fly ball to deep right-center in the fifth that gave him his first career triple. It would have been his first career homer in 29 other parks.
In the field: Five of the nine Giants on the field for the eighth inning of an Oct. 2 game played in the Sacramento River Cats' game on Sept. 2.
Attendance: The Giants announced a crowd of 41,505 human beings who did not all attend.
Up next: Jake Peavy makes his final start of the year against Chris Rusin, who threw a complete game against the Giants on Sept. 3.