Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Colorado 2, San Francisco 0
When: 4:35 PM ET, Monday, April 13, 2015
Where: AT&T Park, San Francisco, California
Temperature: 63°
Umpires: Home - Tripp Gibson, 1B - Brian Gorman, 2B - Mark Carlson, 3B - Mike DiMuro
Attendance: 42019

SAN FRANCISCO -- Rookie right-hander Eddie Butler pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings despite allowing 12 baserunners, and the Colorado Rockies spoiled the San Francisco Giants' banner-raising day with a 2-0 victory Monday afternoon.

Right-hander Brooks Brown, lefties Christian Friedrich and Boone Logan and righty Rafael Betancourt combined for 3 2/3 hitless innings of relief to complete a five-hit shutout as the Rockies snapped a two-game losing streak in the opener of a six-game California swing.

Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki drove in his fifth run of the season with a fourth-inning single, and Colorado added an unearned run in the seventh.

The Giants raised their third championship banner in the last five years in a pregame ceremony before losing for the fourth straight time after a 3-1 start.

Butler, who got a no-decision in his first start last week at Milwaukee, recorded his second career win by surviving bases-loaded threats in each of the first two innings and constant traffic throughout his 93-pitch effort. Butler (1-0) threw nearly as many balls (46) as strikes (47) in his laborious outing.

The 2012 first-round draft pick gave up five hits and issued six walks and hit a batter over his 5 1/3 innings, but he frustrated the Giants by holding them hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position. Butler struck out one.

San Francisco stranded 11 of Butler's 12 allowed baserunners. The other was eliminated on a double-play grounder by center fielder Angel Pagan after the Giants had put two on with one out in the fourth.

Betancourt, the fifth Rockies pitcher, recorded his first save of the season with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Tulowitzki provided Butler & Co. the only run they would need after center fielder Charlie Blackmon led off the fourth inning against Giants starter Chris Heston (1-1) with a single. Blackmon advanced to second on an infield out by right fielder Carlos Gonzalez, setting up Tulowitzki.

The RBI was the 64th of the veteran's career against the Giants.

Heston, just the second rookie ever to start a Giants home opener, went seven innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and seven hits. He walked two and struck out five.

Heston hurt his own cause when he dropped the ball on a tag play at the plate on Rockies catcher Nick Hundley that produced Colorado's final run in the seventh.

Hundley, who doubled, raced home from third when Heston's pitch in the dirt to pinch hitter Rafael Ynoa got behind Buster Posey. The Giants catcher retrieved it quickly and threw back to Heston, who had the ball in plenty of time to apply a tag on a sliding Hundley.

However, Heston lost the ball upon his glove's impact with Hundley's leg, resulting in a run-producing error. The call was upheld in a video replay requested by the Giants.

Second baseman DJ LeMahieu extended his season-opening hitting streak to seven games with three of Colorado's 11 hits. Blackmon, Hundley and first baseman Justin Morneau contributed two hits apiece.

Giants left fielder Nori Aoki ran his hitting streak that bridges the 2014 and '15 seasons to a career-best 16 games with a pair of singles.

NOTES: World Series Most Valuable Player LHP Madison Bumgarner delivered the 2014 championship banner on horseback to its new home -- atop the right field pavilion at AT&T Park -- in a pregame ceremony. ... Rockies manager Walt Weiss said RHP LaTroy Hawkins lost his closer role after blowing two saves in the first week. Weiss said he will go with a closer-by-committee, with RHP Rafael Betancourt, RHP Adam Ottavino and LHP Boone Logan getting opportunities. ... The Rockies won a third home opener. They also prevailed on April 7 at Milwaukee and Friday at home against the Chicago Cubs. ... RHP Alan Fowlkes (1982) was the only previous rookie to start a home opener in Giants history. ... Giants RF Hunter Pence (broken left
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Colorado   San Francisco
Eddie Butler Player Christopher Heston
Win W/L Loss
5.1 IP 7.0
1 Strikeouts 5
5 Hits 7
0.00 ERA 1.29
Hitting
Colorado   San Francisco
DJ LeMahieu Player Norichika Aoki
3 Hits 2
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
3 TB 2
.750 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Colorado 11 0 13 .314 18 5 1 3 0 0
San Francisco 5 0 6 .161 20 6 0 6 1 1