Colorado Rockies vs San Francisco Giants Series Preview
By Bobby DeMuro
Apr 13, 2015; San Francisco, CA, USA; Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) dives for a fly ball hit by San Francisco Giants right fielder Gregor Blanco (not pictured) in the eighth inning of their MLB baseball game with the at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Lance Iversen-USA TODAY Sports
The Colorado Rockies salvaged a split against the San Diego Padres and now will see the San Francisco Giants in Denver this weekend before heading on another road trip next week.
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The San Francisco Giants are coming to Coors Field looking for a little bit of payback, after the Colorado Rockies completed the road sweep in San Francisco early last week.
The Rockies will see the the same three pitchers – Chris Heston, Tim Hudson, and Tim Lincecum – that they faced last week, which, well, it might be good or bad. Either way, familiarity breeds contempt, and if there’s one thing we know about the Giants, it’s that Rockies fans don’t like ’em at all.
DATES, TIMES, AND PITCHERS
Friday, April 24, 6:40 pm
Eddie Butler (1-1, 2.25) vs. Chris Heston (2-1, 0.87)
Saturday, April 25, 6:10 pm
Jorge De La Rosa (0-1, 31.50) vs. Tim Hudson (0-2, 3.93)
Sunday, April 26, 2:10 pm
Tyler Matzek (1-0, 2.40) vs. Tim Lincecum (1-1, 2.00)
KEYS FOR THE ROCKIES
Get Jorge De La Rosa back on track.
Sure, Jorge De La Rosa won’t allow nine runs in two innings again this weekend like he did on Monday against the Padres (I mean, I hope…). But he also may not be quite ready to give the Rockies what they need, as they found out Monday in the blowout loss. De La Rosa needs to get on track soon, because his success will largely dictate what the pitching staff can do this season in light of his career track record in Denver and overall. Here’s hoping Jorge can do what the Rockies are used to him doing at Coors Field.
Do what you did last time.
The Rockies, of course, swept the Giants in San Francisco earlier this month. Expecting or hoping for a sweep is a little greedy, but winning at least two in Denver shouldn’t be too much to ask for a team that’s now gotten past their five-game losing streak and has some momentum heading into the weekend after two close victories against a very good ball club in the Padres. Plus, the Rockies are going to face the same three pitchers – Chris Heston, Tim Hudson, and Tim Lincecum – that they faced in San Francisco last week.
KEY NUMBER
.100
Yep, that’s Carlos Gonzalez’s batting average (4-for-40) his last eleven games after pinch-hitting and striking out Thursday afternoon with a runner on third against the Padres. In fact, he’s gone just 5-for-44 (.114) since the opening weekend in Milwaukee. The Giants are going to throw three right-handed starters at the Rockies this weekend, so CarGo figures to get lots of playing time to figure this thing out. There’s nowhere better than Denver to end a slump, right?
Obviously, the Rockies could do as well as 5-2 on the home stand, which would be very, very solid. Even a series win against the Giants and a 4-3 home stand isn’t half bad. Anytime this club is playing ball above .500, you really can’t complain about much!
Be careful though – the Giants are hot, having just swept the Dodgers in San Francisco.
We’ll see how JDLR responds to his second start of the year, how Eddie Butler reacts with a team seeing him now for the second time, and how Tyler Matzek (hopefully) hones in on the strike zone.
We’ll be covering games all weekend, as always, so follow us on Twitter @RoxPileFS for the minute-by-minute stuff, and go Rockies!