DENVER -- Bob Melvin had to get something off his chest.

Frustrated with some of the umpiring calls in the first two games of this series, Melvin took a second to air his grievances during his lineup exchange with the umpires prior to Sunday's first pitch. But, his complaints weren’t well-received by crew chief Chris Conroy, who ejected the Giants' manager before the game started.

If Melvin intended to fire up his players, consider the message received.

Rookie Hayden Birdsong struck out 12 over six innings in the best start of his young career, and Jorge Soler and Tyler Fitzgerald each homered as the Giants fended off a sweep by the last-place Rockies with a 3-2 win in Sunday’s series finale at Coors Field.

Soler opened the scoring only minutes after Melvin was tossed, crushing a 478-foot leadoff home run in the first inning that ranked as the longest blast in the Majors this year. The moonshot set the tone for the Giants' most complete game of the series, which improved their record to 48-52 with nine days to go until the July 30 Trade Deadline.

The 22-year-old Birdsong was making his first career start at Coors Field, but he appeared undaunted by the high altitude, allowing only two runs on two hits while completing six innings for the first time in his five Major League outings. He leaned on his curveball (34%) and slider (34%) to generate 27 swinging strikes and rack up a career-high 12 punchouts, the most ever by a Giants pitcher at Coors Field. It marked the most strikeouts by a Giants rookie in a single game since Tim Lincecum fanned 12 D-backs on July 1, 2007.

The lone blemish for Birdsong came in the fourth when he walked Ryan McMahon and then surrendered a two-run shot to Brendan Rodgers that cut the Giants’ lead to 3-2. Still, San Francisco’s bullpen managed to preserve the one-run lead after Birdsong departed, with Ryan Walker, Tyler Rogers and closer Camilo Doval combining to fire three scoreless innings to seal the win.