San Francisco Giants Finally Head Home to Face Rockies
After being the visiting team for two home openers, the San Francisco Giants finally head home to open the 2015 season on their own turf, AT&T Park. The Giants are limping, quite literally, into their first series at home, as the injury bug continues to take bites out of guys wearing orange and black.
Monday’s home opener starts a ten-game homestand for San Francisco, and it kicks off with a three-game swing against the Colorado Rockies, who sit in first place in the National league West with a 4-2 record. They started the year with four consecutive wins, sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers and taking the first game of the series against the Chicago Cubs.
The Rockies dropped the final two against Chicago, so both teams head into AT&T on losing streaks. San Francisco lost the final three games of a four-game set after beginning the year 3-1.
Here are the pitching matchups for the series.
Game 1: Chris Heston vs. Eddie Butler
The Giants will celebrate their third World Series championship in five years by raising another banner, and taking the mound will be the rookie Heston. Opposing him will be the Rockies’ top prospect, the right-handed Butler.
Neither team has faced the opposing pitcher in the past, as Heston is making only his third start, and Butler is making his fifth. Butler has one start in 2015, a no-decision against Milwaukee in which he threw 5.2 innings and gave up a pair of runs.
Heston made a statement last Wednesday, as he threw six innings and gave up just two runs, both unearned, filling in for the injured Jake Peavy. He also allowed only three hits and two walks, and struck out five.
Heston will be the second Giants’ rookie to start a home opener. Alan Fowlkes took the mound in 1982, and won against the Padres. Heston will hope that his career lasts longer than Fowlkes’, who pitched just 21 games afterwards.
Game 2: Tim Hudson vs. Christian Bergman
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Hudson gave the Giants a great start on Thursday, going 6.1 innings without allowing a run. He didn’t factor in the decision, as the game went 12 innings before the Giants scored the game’s lone run. He looks to build on that against the Rockies, who he’s had a certain level of struggles against. He’s 5-2 against them, but owns a 4.32 ERA.
Rockies’ outfielder Charlie Blackmon is 5-16 (.313) in his career against Hudson with a double. Hudson has held down Carlos Gonzalez well throughout his career, as Gonzalez is 2-14 (.167) against the wily veteran Hudson.
Bergman will be making his first start of 2015, as his only appearance thus far came in relief, when he got the win with a perfect inning against the Cubs. In his career, he’s faced the Giants twice, and is 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA.
No Giants’ player has more than six at-bats against Bergman, but Buster Posey has had the youngster’s number so far. Posey is 4-5 (.800) with a home run against the right-hander.
Game 3: Tim Lincecum vs. Tyler Matzek
Apr 10, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum (55) pitches against the San Diego Padres during the first inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Lincecum got his renaissance off to a great start in 2015 with a masterful start against the Padres on Friday. The enigmatic right-hander threw seven shutout innings, and gave up just four hits and walked three, with two being intentional. He struck out five as well. He used his defense behind him rather than relying on striking everyone out, and looked more like a pitcher than a thrower.
Against Colorado, Lincecum is 11-9 with a 3.92 ERA, but away from Coors Field, his ERA versus the Rockies drops to 3.20. Unlike Hudson, Gonzalez hits Lincecum well, going 13-47 (.277) with two home runs, three triples and a double against the former Cy Young winner.
Matzek’s first start of 2015 was less than stellar, even though he gave up just one run. In four innings, he gave up four hits, three walks, and hit two batters. Matzek has faced San Francisco once in his career, and earned the win on August 25th by going seven innings and giving up just two runs.
Manager Bruce Bochy will have to continue to tinker with the Giants’ lineup, as he has done through the first week of the year. Bochy has used six different lineups in seven games, and Nori Aoki is the only hitter who has been used in the same lineup spot for every game.
Third baseman Casey McGehee will likely miss the series, as he is dealing with a bone bruise on his knee. However, the possibility is there that he will be able to play, maybe in the finale, as he is only expected to miss “a couple days“. In the meantime, Matt Duffy will get most of the work at third base.
Brandon Belt returned to the Giants’ lineup on Sunday after missing four games with a groin injury. He went 1-4, but did have an RBI single. His presence in the lineup will be a big boost for the Giants, whose injury losses were stacking up.
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It will be interesting to see how Bochy handles right field as well. Gregor Blanco is a master of the tricky right field in AT&T Park, but he is off to a very slow start with the bat, although he did hit a run-scoring triple on Sunday. Justin Maxwell‘s bat is off to a better start, as he’s driven in a pair of runs, and has worked a couple of works. Even his outs have been loud.
Maxwell had some trouble with the right field wall during the final Spring Training series. Blanco has more experience in right field, and with the way the Giants’ offense ran in San Diego, his defense may be a necessity.
It’s still very early in the season, but the Giants will be looking to get back on track with a strong series against the Rockies. The team doesn’t want to get too far behind the eight ball. It won’t be easy, but nothing ever is with the Giants. A series win against Colorado would be a great way to get back on track.