Gorkys at center of each of Giants' runs in win

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants could file Tuesday night's 3-2 decision over the Colorado Rockies under the predictable categories: A one-run win, another victory at home, a cherished triumph over a National League West rival.
Or it could occupy a place in the Strange But True file.
Gorkys Hernández continued to entrench himself as the Giants' unlikeliest offensive source, thriving almost to the extent that, pretty soon, his proficiency will no longer be a surprise.

Hernandez was an integral part of each Giants run. He homered in the third inning off Rockies starter Chad Bettis to tie the score and executed a sacrifice bunt to help the Giants inch ahead 2-1 in the eighth. Then, after Colorado pulled even, Hernandez coaxed a bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning off Rockies reliever Adam Ottavino to force across Brandon Crawford with the go-ahead run.
Hernandez has 10 home runs to complement a .284/.338/.482 slash line. His total of 23 RBIs is a career high. This is the same guy who didn't homer in 348 plate appearances last year.

"That's not my game, though," Hernandez said. "I try to hit the ball hard and see what happens. If the ball's gone, it's gone. I try to keep doing the same thing, working every day to be in the lineup every day. It's great to see the power in myself, but I try to be on base and score runs. That's what we're looking for."
To his teammates, Hernandez is a marvel.
"We're going to be talking about him for a while," said Giants starter Derek Holland, who allowed one run and six hits in a season-high 6 2/3 innings. "He's been doing outstanding this year. He's been a huge part of this team. I've said this before, each guy has stepped up when needed, and this guy stepped up in the very beginning and continues to do it each day. Can't say enough about him."

In fact, the game was rich with conversation pieces:
• Pinch-hitting in the seventh inning, Hunter Pence hit a dribbler up the third-base line that looked certain to skip into foul territory. Until it bounced off the base.
• While batting in the eighth inning, Joe Panik tried to call time out just as Crawford broke for second base. Umpire John Tumpane denied Panik's request, enabling Crawford to record the theft that also preceded San Francisco's go-ahead run.
"It was a really good ballgame, but it was a strange way both teams were scoring there at the end," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "We found a way through walks. That helped us. We've been there before, where walks hurt us, but they helped us today."
At one late juncture, the Giants' hopes rose and fell with Andrew McCutchen's fortunes. His bases-loaded sacrifice fly off Ottavino scored Austin Slater and enabled San Francisco to break a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning. In the Rockies' half of the eighth, however, McCutchen made a diving attempt to snare Ian Desmond's line drive to right field and couldn't come up with the ball. Trevor Story, whose two-out single prolonged the inning against Mark Melancon, raced home to even the score again.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
There were many of these for the Giants. One occurred in the third inning, after first baseman Brandon Belt couldn't quite come up with a DJ LeMahieu base hit. Charlie Blackmon, the next batter, lined out directly to Belt for an inning-ending double play.

SOUND SMART
With a 15-9 mark in June, the Giants already have clinched a winning record for the month.
MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
The Rockies challenged the game-ending double play at both first and second bases. They were thwarted on both attempts and the calls were confirmed.

UP NEXT
The first strikeout Madison Bumgarner records on Wednesday when he faces the Rockies starting at 7:15 p.m. PT at AT&T Park will be the 1,500th of his career. The left-hander ranks ninth on the franchise's all-time strikeout list. Bumgarner is 4-1 with a 2.25 ERA in his last seven starts against the Rockies, who will counter with left-hander Kyle Freeland.