DENVER -- Rockies pitcher Dakota Hudson couldn’t find the strike zone and the offense couldn’t produce runs. The combination of those two ills led to a 5-0 loss to the Giants at Coors Field on Tuesday night.

The worst start in Rockies history reached 8-27.

Here are takeaways from the latest defeat -- the sixth shutout loss of the season for a team that was blanked nine times during last year’s worst-in-club-history 59-103 finish.

1. Hudson’s walks are unsustainable
Hudson walked a career high-tying five in 3 2/3 innings. The last three hits off him, in the Giants’ four-run third, were infield singles to third base by Nick Ahmed and Jung Hoo Lee, and a fielder’s choice behind the mound by Thairo Estrada. The first and third of those each drove in a run. The spiral was completed when LaMonte Wade Jr. singled in two runs off reliever Ty Blach.

Maddening as the fateful soft-contact plays were, a one-out walk to Matt Chapman undid Hudson.

“That’s the at-bat I’m sure Dakota wants back -- 0-2 to 4-2,” Rockies manager Bud Black said.

In four starts at Coors, Hudson has a 9.00 ERA, but that’s not his biggest problem. He has walked 22 in 34 innings pitched.

“I gotta find some consistency in my own game,” Hudson said. “I don't think it's the location. I don't think it's the area. It’s being more consistent, myself. Those are things I'm trying to work on.”

Hudson endured a long comeback from Tommy John surgery in September 2020 before being non-tendered by the Cardinals last offseason. The Rockies signed him to a one-year, $1.5 million contract with incentives, knowing that walks have been an issue. In his best year, a 16-7 performance in 2019, he led the Majors with 86 walks.

“It's troublesome,” Black said. “He’s a veteran pitcher, and he’ll be the first one to admit that the walks have come back to haunt him.”

2. Another young standout opposing pitcher, another punchless offensive performance?
Giants lefty Kyle Harrison, 22, was scarcely troubled in throwing 86 pitches and holding the Rockies to four hits in seven innings. On Sunday in Pittsburgh, Jared Jones, also 22, pitched seven scoreless innings, struck out 10 and held the Rockies to one hit and no other baserunners.

Harrison quickly joined franchise tradition by becoming the sixth Giants starter to throw at least seven scoreless at Coors -- the first since Barry Zito’s nine-inning shutout on April 9, 2012.

“If you break down the delivery, he has a long extension, so the ball gets on you a little quicker,” Black said. “It’s 92-93 mph but has good carry through the strike zone. So the fastball plays. Tonight, the changeup and the breaking ball came into play.

“His last start in Boston, he was a little erratic. But tonight he wasn’t.”

3. The relief performance was cause for encouragement
Blach is in his third season helping the Rockies through difficult mound events, like Hudson’s start. Blach held the Giants to one run and four hits in three innings on Tuesday. Blach held the Marlins scoreless on three hits in four innings in relief of Peter Lambert in a 10-inning 5-4 Rox loss last Thursday.

Two late relievers who have had their share of struggles also pitched well on Tuesday.

Righty Nick Mears, the hard-luck loser Saturday at Pittsburgh, pitched 1 1/3 scoreless with three strikeouts. It was the second straight solid outing -- one inning, one strikeout -- for Tyler Kinley, who is trying to work his way back to heightened innings.