The San Francisco Giants have strung together a modest winning streak but with time running out in the regular season, it’s likely a case of “too little, too late”. Can they extend their streak tonight against the Colorado Rockies?
Tonight the defending World Series Champions go for a
second straight victory over the Rockies as the two teams resume their
four-game series at Coors Field. There’s a 30 percent chance of rain and
thunderstorms tonight with temperatures in the 60’s in the Mile High City.
Lefthander Madison Bumgarner (11-12, 3.33 ERA) will do his part to
keep the Giants slim playoff hopes alive when he faces rookie righthander Alex
White (3-1, 6.32 ERA).
MLB betting shops opened Bumgarner, who started the season 0-6, at -122 with
the total at nine. White is one of the players the Rockies obtained from the
Indians in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade.
Attack of the Kung Fu Panda
Pablo Sandoval hit for the cycle as the Giants beat the Rockies
8-5 on Thursday night. Sandoval homered, doubled and singled in his first three
at bats then delivered a triple in the sixth inning to help the SF win their
fifth straight.
Despite the win the Giants (80-70) are still seven games behind
the Diamondbacks in the National League West and six back of the Braves in the Wild Card race
with just 12 games left to play.
Winning pitcher Ryan Vogelsong (11-7) ended a personal five-game
losing streak allowing two runs and four hits, with eight strikeouts and four
walks in 5.2 innings. Rockies ace Jhoulys Chacin (11-12) gave up all four hits
to Sandoval and allowed seven runs, nine hits and four walks.
There’s no argument that Carlos Beltran has produced since coming
over from the Mets at the trade deadline. He’s hitting .320 with five homers
and four triples and tore up the Padres in the just concluded series. Beltran
hit three home runs and is now 13 for 25 with four homers against the Friars.
Since joining the Giants at the trade deadline, he’s bullied NL West teams
hitting .443 with five round-trippers.
Beltran and Sandoval aside, San Francisco’s overall work with the
sticks has been among the worst in the majors. They rank 30th in
runs scored (506), 29th in runs per game and 28th in
hitting (.239). The Giants won it all last season despite a woeful offense but
they couldn’t pull the rabbit out of the hat two years in a row.
Rockies Horror Show
It’s been a nightmare season for Colorado which has rendered many
a futures ticket meaningless. After giving big money contracts to Troy
Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez, only ‘Tulo’ improved on his numbers from a year
ago. Gonzalez’ stats are down across the board. In the three major offensive
categories, ‘Cargo’ has hit eight fewer home runs, driven in 25 fewer runs and
is batting 41 points lower than he did a year ago. Tulowitzki has been solid
across the board with 30 HR’s, 105 RBI’s and a .304 average.
Numbers
Colorado had won four of their last five but is now 5-12 in their
last 17 outings against the Giants including a 4-8 record. The Rockies are 12-4
to the ‘over’ in their last 16 home games.
Harvey’s Take: This one looks too good to be true. Bumgarner is 3-0 in his last
three starts with an ERA of 1.27 and has allowed just two runs in 13 innings
this season vs. the Rockies. He’ll be pitching with a little added incentive as
well. A victory would move him to the .500 mark, a great accomplishment after
starting the season 0-6.
If I haven’t tipped my hand yet, it’s the Giants for me. Let’s
home the Giants offensive resurgence continues for at least one more night
against the rookie White.
Good luck!