Freeland on losing end of all-Colo. matchup

Coors Field hosted two local pitchers on Labor Day, but the one wearing out-of-town colors fared much better on the mound.

Kyle Freeland (a Denver native) was overmatched by Giants starter Kevin Gausman (born in Centennial) in the Rockies’ 10-5 loss on Monday afternoon.

Pitching in Denver is obviously nothing new for Freeland, the Rockies’ first-round pick in 2014. But Monday marked the first time two Coloradans started against each other within the state. It’s only the ninth time two Coloradans have started against each other in any ballpark, which first occurred in 1989 (Brewers’ Mark Knudson vs. Mariners’ Brian Holman).

“I thought it was cool,” Freeland said. “Obviously I wish we could’ve had a better battle against one another. [Gausman is] a pitcher I enjoy watching. I’ve known about him for a long time, and he’s putting together one hell of a season. So being able to watch him, being matched up against him -- two Colorado kids going at it at Coors Field -- it was really cool.”

As Freeland alluded to, it wasn’t exactly a pitchers’ duel between the two home-staters. After exiting last Wednesday’s start in the second inning with a left hip impingement, Freeland posted his worst outing in 2 1/2 months: seven runs on nine hits, including four homers, in 4 1/3 innings.

The Giants never gave him a chance to settle in, capitalizing on his lack of fastball command and surplus of elevated pitches. It’s not far-fetched to try to connect those problems to his lingering hip issues, but Freeland didn’t want to entertain that theory.

“I don’t believe it was the hip,” he said. “It didn’t feel 100 percent, but at the same time, everyone’s working with some sort of little injury or tweak or whatever. That can’t be an excuse. I’m not using that as an excuse.”

Darin Ruf took Freeland deep in the first at-bat of the game, lining an 0-2 curveball to left field. Buster Posey pushed a sinker into the seats in right two batters later. Though Freeland worked around a double in the second and stranded the bases loaded in the third, the Giants kept coming.

Thairo Estrada homered in both the fourth and fifth innings, which helped chase Freeland prematurely. He owned a 2.66 ERA over his previous 13 starts, dating back to June 22, but the National League’s most prolific homer-hitting team (206 home runs in 138 games) got to him.

“It’s one start,” Freeland said. “It happens. It was against the best team in baseball. I know I can match up against those guys. [I’ve] done it before -- did it a few weeks ago. So I’m not too concerned about it at all. It’s just one of those games where I wasn’t sharp and they hit every single mistake that I threw.”

This was Gausman’s first opportunity to pitch at “home” in front of fans, after making two starts in an empty Coors Field last season. He also didn’t pitch at this summer’s All-Star Game after making a start just two days beforehand. When his opportunity arose Monday, Gausman didn’t waste it.

With around 30 friends and family in attendance, by his estimate, Gausman held the Rockies in check through seven strong innings.

Colorado did make a bit of a push in the later innings, scoring twice and stranding two more in the eighth. Ultimately, a deficit that was once nine runs was too much to overcome.

And even though the Rockies lost, Monday was a win for Colorado as a baseball state. Maybe in a few years it won’t be so rare to see local ballplayers in the spotlight at Coors Field.

“It speaks volumes to amateur baseball here in Denver and the Colorado area,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “That there’s great programs, great facilities, to be able to produce Major League players. And hopefully in the future, those programs, those facilities, those coaches, those teachers [can] continue to grow Major Leaguers out of the state of Colorado.”