Rockies make several defensive gems to beat Giants 4-1

SAN FRANCISCO -- Nolan Arenado's spectacular falling catch over the tarp in foul territory is right up there with the greatest longtime baseball men Walt Weiss and Rene Lachemann have ever seen. Arenado might need to wait a little while to watch the highlights -- and there will be many -- because Colorado's third baseman is just thankful he didn't get hurt and realizes how frightening it might have been.

Arenado made what will certainly go down as one of the top catches of 2015, Corey Dickerson had an RBI single among his three hits and the Rockies established their best road start in franchise history with a 4-1 win against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night.

"I'm just so thankful I didn't get hurt," Arenado said. "It was a scary play. To be honest with you, I don't think I'd go for a ball like that ever again."

A sprinting Arenado crashed into the tarp and went over the rail along the left-field line while catching a popup by Gregor Blanco in the eighth. He immediately made the throw from his knees while still on the tarp then toppled to the dirt.

"I don't know if I've ever seen a better play than that," said Weiss, the Rockies' manager.

Veteran coach Lachemann added: "I've seen a lot of them. That's one of the best catches I've seen in a long time. He's a web gem every night."

He nearly threw out Angel Pagan at third for a double play. Arenado had 60 messages waiting on his phone and he counted on his cousins to send replays from every angle.

"It's a great play. It was awesome," he said, admittedly a little sore all over.

Center fielder Charlie Blackmon followed with his own gem when he chased down a deep fly at the fence to rob pinch-hitter Buster Posey to end the inning.

Scott Oberg (1-0) pitched the fifth for the win in his major league debut as the Rockies moved to 5-0 on the road to start a season for the first time. They sent the reigning World Series champions to a fifth straight defeat.

San Francisco ended an 18-inning scoreless streak on Matt Duffy's eighth-inning sacrifice fly. The Giants, who lost their AT&T Park opener 2-0 on Monday, avoided being shut out in consecutive home games to start the season for the first time in San Francisco history.

"We have some guys that are really, really pressing right now," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's pretty obvious looking at the at-bats."

LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect sixth a day after Weiss moved him out of the closer job for now. Hawkins surrendered a two-run homer to the Cubs' Dexter Fowler in a 6-5 loss Sunday to Chicago.

Adam Ottavino finished for his first save. The Giants have stranded 21 baserunners in the first two games of the series.

Tim Hudson made his home debut but didn't get a single run of support for the second straight start. The right-hander is planning to retire after this season, his 17th in the majors. Hudson (0-1) dropped to 5-3 against Colorado and didn't have a decision in four 2014 starts against the Rockies.

Posey had most of the day off after starting the first eight games -- two of those at first -- and he is likely to play first base Wednesday night with backup Hector Sanchez behind the plate for a second straight day.

Christian Bergman allowed four hits and no runs in four shutout innings but was done after reaching his pitch count of 85. He is winless in five career road starts.

San Francisco's Nori Aoki extended his career-best hitting streak dating to last season to 17 games with a fifth-inning single.

World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner was honored for his special October in a pregame ceremony that included the presentation of his Silver Slugger award and The Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year award. Posey also received his Silver Slugger plaque.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Rockies: Jorge De La Rosa, on the DL with a strained left groin, struck out five in his second rehab game for Triple-A Albuquerque at home against Tacoma.

Giants: RF Hunter Pence had another X-ray on his fractured left forearm and there's still no target date when he will swing a bat. RHP Matt Cain is about a week away from throwing as he nurses a strained flexor tendon in his forearm.

UP NEXT

Rockies: LHP Tyler Matzek (0-0) looks for his first win of 2015 after winning in San Francisco his only other outing against the Giants, last Aug. 25.

Giants: RHP Tim Lincecum (0-0) tries for his first win of the season after seven scoreless innings in his season debut Friday at San Diego.