The Colorado Rockies will begin a seven game home stand on Thursday night as they take on the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants. After the loss last night the Rockies dropped to 21-19 on the year which is good enough for third place in the National League West behind the Arizona Diamondbacks (23-18) and the Giants (23-17). It seems to be feast or famine with the Rockies in the past week as they either are completely shut down on offense, or they explode for a big night. They will be looking to get things figured out and develop more of a consistent offense game plan throughout this series that they can build on throughout the season.
The Giants (23-17) Have had a good start to the season despite their normally stellar pitching staff throwing at a somewhat sub par level for them. Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum both have under performed and they are looking for ways to get back on track on the mound. The Giants are an all around solid team on offense and they have several guys that can cause damage to their opposition. Former Rockies second baseman Marco Scutaro, leads the Giants with a .315 average and Pablo Sandoval leads the team with seven home runs and thirty RBI. It was a rough start offensively for the MVP winner from last year Buster Posey but he is starting to hit the ball hard again and has been a main contributor for the first place Giants. Madison Bumgarner has been outstanding to start the year and leads the team in wins with four, ERA at 2.18, and strikeouts with 54. The Rockies no longer have to "Fear the Beard" closing out games but San Francisco has found a formidable replacement with Sergio Romo. He has notched 12 saves on the season which is second in the National League behind Pittsburgh Pirates closer Jason Grilli.
In the Series the Rockies will take on Matt Cain in game one (2-2, 5.04 ERA), Madison Bumgarner in game 2 (4-1, 2.18 ERA), Tim Lincecum in Game three (3-2, 4.07 ERA) and Barry Zito in game four (3-2, 3.40 ERA). It will be a tough series for the Rockies hitters if they fail to remain patient at the plate. If they are swinging at pitches out of the zone then the Giants pitchers will exploit it and take advantage.
The Giants lineup for the opening game of the series is as follows:
1. Angel Pagan, CF
2. Marco Scutaro, 2B
3. Pablo Sandoval, 3B
4. Buster Posey, C
5. Hunter Pence, RF
6. Brandon Belt, 1B
7. Gregor Blanco, LF
8. Brandon Crawford, SS
9. Matt Cain, P
The Rockies lineup for game one is as follows:
1. Dexter Fowler, CF
2. Josh Rutledge, 2B
3. Carlos Gonzales, LF
4. Troy Tulowitzki, SS
5. Wilin Rosario, C
6. Todd Helton, 1B
7. Nolan Arenado, 3B
8. Charlie Blackmon, RF
9. Jhoulys Chacin, P
First pitch for tonight's game is at 6:40 PM Mountain time.
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