San Francisco Giants Take Winning Streak to Coors Field
The San Francisco Giants got off to a very rocky start, as they sat 4-10 heading into their first day off of the long season, and had lost nine out of 10 contests. They righted the ship against their arch-nemesis, the Los Angeles Dodgers, completing a clean sweep in three games to get back on track.
When all was said and done, the Giants ended their 10-game homestand with a 4-6 record, which is kind of impressive considering they’d lost three of four to the Arizona Diamondbacks, and were swept in three games by the Colorado Rockies.
San Francisco now takes their newly-found confidence on the road, heading to Coors Field to take on the Rockies again. The Giants still sit in the NL West cellar, but they’ve begun their journey to dig out of that hole.
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The Rockies are in the midst of a seven-game homestand of their own. They had lost five in a row, including the first two of a four-game set with the San Diego Padres before taking the final two rounds to get their own ship back on course.
Colorado holds a 9-7 record, and are in third place in the NL West. In their first meeting with San Francisco, they swept them in three games, completely locking down the Giants’ already dismal offense.
The Giants and the Rockies are both looking to put together a long winning streak, but something will have to give.
Here are the pitching matchups for the three-game swing.
Game 1 – Chris Heston vs. Eddie Butler
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The 27-year-old rookie Heston has been nothing short of stellar so far this year, but pitching in the hitter’s paradise of Coors Field will prove to be his biggest test yet.
Pitchers who rely on sinkers, like Heston does, usually find some extra life on their downward movement in the thin air, and if Heston keeps the ball down, he should find himself in good shape.
Heston enters his fourth start with a 2-1 record, 0.87 ERA, and .968 WHIP, and has easily been the Giants’ most consistent starter. His only loss so far came against these Rockies, when he allowed both runs (one earned) on seven hits in seven innings in a 2-0 loss.
Butler had a weird game in his first start against the Giants. He only went 5.1 innings, and allowed 12 baserunners total (five hits, six walks, one hit by pitch). However, the Giants scored exactly zero runs that day, and Butler earned the win.
Overall, Butler is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA, but has walked 11 batters in 16 innings.
Nori Aoki had good success against Butler in their early meeting, as he went 2-2 with a pair of singles, a walk, and a stolen base.
Game 2 – Tim Hudson vs. Jorge De La Rosa
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Hudson enters Coors Field without a win at the stadium in eight attempts. Overall he is 0-2 with a 7.29 ERA in the thin air of Colorado.
Hudson has pitched pretty well in three starts this year, earning two quality starts, but is 0-2 with a 3.93 ERA. He didn’t receive any runs of support in his first two starts, but in his third outing, he allowed five runs in five innings after getting his first run support.
Charlie Blackmon and Corey Dickerson will be two hitters to watch against the veteran Hudson. Blackmon is 6-19, and Dickerson is 4-10 with a home run.
De La Rosa will be making his second start of the 2015 season after missing the first few with a groin injury. His first outing was abysmal, as he allowed nine runs (seven earned) in two innings to the Padres.
The wily lefty is 9-6 in his career against San Francisco with a 4.07 ERA. At Coors Field in 2014, De La Rosa owned a 10-2 record with a 3.08 ERA. He will look to combine those into another good outing against the Giants in Coors.
Game 3 – Tim Lincecum vs. Tyler Matzek
Lincecum’s career renaissance is off to fabulous start through three outings. He is 1-1 with a 2.00 ERA, and if not for a lack of run support, he could have at least two wins.
He’s faced Colorado once this year, and pitched pretty well, save for one mistake that he paid dearly for, when Nolan Arenado golfed an 0-2 curveball out of AT&T Park for a three-run home run. Besides that one mistake, Lincecum has allowed one earned run in 18 innings.
Coors Field has not been kind to Lincecum so far in his career. Though he has a winning record (6-4), his 4.52 ERA is not as pretty. If he wants to be successful this time around, he can not leave any of his pitches up.
Matzek, the second lefty the Giants will face in the series, has quickly figured out how to beat the orange and black. In two starts, he’s 2-0 and has allowed three earned runs in 13 innings. That includes an outing earlier this year when he allowed one run on five hits in six innings to earn the victory.
So far in 2015, Matzek is 1-0 in three starts with a 2.40 ERA. He has shown a penchant for allowing free passes, as he’s issued 10 walks and hit three batters in 15 innings.
Angel Pagan has had solid success against Matzek, as he is 3-7 with a double and an RBI.
A lot of Giants’ hitters have to be happy to be heading to Coors Field. Buster Posey has scuffled by his standards so far in the young season, as he is hitting just .250 with only two extra-base hits (both home runs) and seven RBI in 17 games.
Posey has flourished at Coors, owning a .412 average (56-136) with nine doubles, eight home runs and 29 RBI. Coors Field is the perfect place for Posey to get his swing back.
Brandon Crawford is also off to a slow start, but he has begun to put together some much better at-bats, and is hitting the ball with authority. Still, his .222 average is low. In Denver, his career average is .278 (30-108) and he has 12 extra-base hits, the most of any park outside of his home in AT&T.
Brandon Belt also is looking to get back on track. He is hitting just .179 with no extra-base hits in 12 games. In Coors, he is 22-71 (.310) with five long balls and five doubles.
Justin Maxwell figures to get a ton of playing time after a great series against the Dodgers. He played an excellent right field, and had four hits, including his first home run in well over a year, and a walk-off hit to sweep the Dodgers. Maxwell is 4-7 with a double, home run, and three RBI in Coors.
The Giants made a big statement by sweeping the Dodgers, saying they won’t roll over and die. They’re here to defend their World Series title, and now that they’ve set out on the right road again, they can start defending it the right way.