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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Buster Posey knew better than to stay in the lineup. The headache was a pretty good indicator.
Posey came out of Sunday's game in the fourth inning as a precautionary measure after taking a foul ball off his face mask.
"As a competitor you never want to come out of a game," Posey said following the San Francisco Giants' 8-7 loss to the Colorado Rockies. "But when your head feels weird and you've taken a couple of hard ones in the last three or four days, it was the right move."
Hector Sanchez pinch hit for Posey and hit a home run, one of the highlights of another game that got away.
"We're a few outs away from a sweep," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Instead we get swept, and that's always tough to handle."
The Rockies swept the Giants in a three-or-more game series for the first time in nearly six years. The Giants entered the series with a 34-1 record when leading after seven innings. It's now 34-4.
Madison Bumgarner, who left with the lead after seven innings, was denied a chance to move into a tie for the NL wins lead with nine. He allowed four runs on six hits, walking four and striking out nine. Bumgarner had allowed a combined four runs in his previous 29 innings.
"As rough as it is, we're still in pretty good shape," said Bumgarner, who hit a home run in the fifth. "The bullpen has picked us up plenty of times."
Bumgarner said he saw orange paint fly when Posey was hit by the foul ball.
"That was a pretty solid hit," Bumgarner said. "He usually doesn't act like anything is wrong, only when it really bothers him."
Posey, who said he underwent a series of successful tests, has made one trip to the seven-day concussion list in the minor leagues after getting hit by a pitch.
"There were no severe symptoms then," he said. "Everything feels normal now. I'm OK."
Justin Morneau hit a two-run double in the eighth inning against left-hander Javier Lopez for the go-ahead runs for the Rockies, who scored in the ninth in each of the first two games of the series for the win.
"We should have won some of the games we lost on this home stand but you're going to have some adversity," Bumgarner said. "The Rockies have one of the best offenses in the league and we weren't playing that badly. We just found ourselves on the losing side."
Matt Belisle (2-2) pitched an inning for Colorado. Juan Gutierrez (1-2) allowed four runs on three hits for the Giants.
Pablo Sandoval also homered for the Giants.
NOTES: Giants OF Angel Pagan was scratched from the starting lineup with lower back tightness. . The Giants will start RHP Matt Cain (1-4, 3.84) against the White Sox in Chicago on Tuesday. He is 8-10 with a 2.71 ERA in 22 career interleague games. . RHP Santiago Casilla is expected to be activated by the Giants in time for their series in Chicago. . Giants RHP Tim Lincecum turned 30. ... Bochy was ejected from the game with two outs in the ninth for arguing balls and strikes.
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