Trevor Story of the Rockies hits three titles, a 505-foot, at Giants rock

DENVER – All eyes were on Coors Field in the sixth inning to see if Andrew Suarez or a hitter would stand out. A match that the Rockies would win 5-3 was tied and Suarez's score was good.

Suarez emerged even though he had to face Trevor Story for the third time in the lower half after the Rockies shortstop set a Statcast record with a 505-foot home run and a 459-foot victory in the first run.

Maybe Bochy thought Suarez was going to conquer a hitter that he will see in the years to come. Maybe Bochy feared four innings of his struggling goblin. Maybe he just put his trust in a kid who gave so much to the Giants that a rookie.

So in a step forward Story with two outs in the sixth. Suarez had the sign of Aramis Garcia: changeup. He floated in the middle of the plate, and Story lined up on the left field at just 416 feet, his third circuit in four shots, which broke a 3-3 draw.

The Rockies moved to the eighth and completed the sweep, inflicting the Giants their fifth straight loss. The Giants finished 1 to 8 this season in their corner of hell and have lost 18 of their last 20 years to Coors.

Story had a shot in fourth place in the eighth inning against Ray Black, who hit him with fast balls of 100, 99, 100, 100 and 100. The story just missed and was eliminated.

Story's success against Suarez was 1380 feet. It was the first time the Giants had allocated three homers in the match since Hanley Ramirez had made it to Fenway Park in 2016. The last opponent to hit three against the same Giants was a game in 2005 at Minute Maid Park.

Story battled Suarez nine times and went four deep. He hit three different shots on Wednesday, a slider who rolled in his swing, a fast ball in the corner for the 505 foot and the gearshift in the pipe.

Suarez and Garcia were among the five rookies in Giants training, along with Alen Hanson, Austin Slater and Chris Shaw.

Bochy's turned to young people in part to allow some of the main pillars to spend an extra night resting their tired bones (and in some cases injured).

If the Dodgers and Diamondbacks looked down on the Giants' line-up against the Rockies in first place, they should also research the scores with recent lines of veteran influence. These produced five consecutive losses.

Bochy faces a difficult balance every night as his team plays the rope. On one side of the scale: the need to write competitive queues to maintain the integrity of the post-season races. On the other hand, the need to look at their young people.

He faces many competing interests. Regulars always want to play, especially those who fight and want to finish on a good note. Bochy must consider fans who have paid a lot of money for AT & T tickets while waiting to see Belt, Brandon Crawford, Evan Longoria et al.

Then there is Hunter Pence, who is entering his last weeks as a giant and who knows? – Maybe from his career. He should be rewarded for 6 ½ years of service with a start here or there.

Bochy made it clear that Nick Hundley, as a good lieutenant, had earned the right to start most games in the absence of Buster Posey. Plus, the pitching staff knows.

But every start for Pence is a game that Shaw or Slater face. Every game that Hundley catches is a lost opportunity to evaluate Garcia's abilities. Garcia started two games and each conceded a match.

So how does Bochy reach this balance?

"We are always there to win games," he said. "We will still try to set up queues that will give us the best chance of winning, and now as the season progresses, in a few weeks you may see a small change."

Giants have combinations of both generations. In addition to the Garcia circuit, Slater hit a single RBI, while Joe Panik and Evan Longoria each doubled and scored.

Henry Schulman is an editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @hankschulman