DENVER — It was a battle of the Denver natives on the mound at Coors Field on Monday.

For the Rockies, it was Kyle Freeland, their lefty from Thomas Jefferson high school. The Giants strutted out Kevin Gausman from Grandview, giving the hometown kid the start at the ballpark 20 minutes from where he grew up.

“It’s great to see Colorado pitchers in the big leagues,” manager Bud Black said. “It speaks volumes to amateur baseball here in the Colorado area.”

It ended up being a happy return for Gausman, who held the Rockies to three runs in seven innings as the Giants beat the Rockies 10-5. The Giants, who own the best record in baseball, were one game ahead of the Dodgers entering Monday’s game.

On Monday, Freeland was not sharp. He left his last start with left hip impingement, and he received an injection on Sept. 2 to help with the inflammation. He said it wasn’t hurting, but it was 100 percent. Freeland was up in the zone, and his pitches had little action. He also wasn’t able to follow through.

“Everyone is working with some kind of injury,” he said. “I’m not using that as an excuse.”

The Giants, who lead the National League in home runs, smacked four off of Freeland. Darin Ruff was the first, notching the third pitch of the game to left field. Buster Posey did the same two batters later, and Thairo Estrada hit two, the first multi-homer game of his career.

Freeland, per usual, was very honest when assessing his performance.

“My curveball wasn’t sharp, I couldn’t place my fastball where I wanted, the changeup was almost nonexistent, I couldn’t get the slider out in front,” he said. “When you have that kind of mix against the best team in baseball, it’s a recipe for disaster.”

Freeland was removed in the fifth, after walking his third batter of the day. He was credited for seven earned runs. He plans to continue to work on hip mobility and strength. Ben Bowden and Yency Almonte didn’t fare much better, giving up one and two earned runs, respectively.

Gausman meanwhile held the Rockies to just two hits through the first five frames. They eventually cracked through, getting five hits off him. Ryan McMahon, Garrett Hampson and Trevor Story all hit a home run. And Charlie Blackmon stayed hot, hitting a RBI triple in the sixth.

“He just keeps you off balance,” McMahon said. “There’s a reason he’s been having a good year and having success. He got the better of us today.”

On the plus side for the Rockies, Raimel Tapia seems to be fully back from his toe injury and picking right off where he left off before going on the injured list last month. Tapia, who returned a week ago, snapped an 0 for 14 streak a day prior, hitting both of the Rockies hits. He also had a single in the sixth on Monday.

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