The Giants who had their regular going away barrage of runs against the Cubies head to Denver to face a suddenly reeling Rockies. The Rockies who seem to own September are coming off a sweep at the cellar dwelling Diamondbacks and have lost 6 of their last 10 games.
They are now sitting 3.5 games behind the Giants and the Braves for a playoff spot and with each loss their chances fall further.
I say that the Giants should just do the human thing and just put them out of their misery. Enough of this late season streaking trying to sneak into the playoffs.
The Giants have the top of the rotation and miss Ubaldo Jimenez which swings the advantage in their favor.
The matchups:
Tim Lincecum, 14-10, 3.60 ERA vs. Jhoulys Chacin, 9-9, 3.30 ERA
From MLB.com:
With the offense struggling, Lincecum was pinch-hit for in the fifth inning of his last start against the Brewers. He also took his first lost of September, as a bloop single drove in two runs. He is 1-2 with a 3.66 ERA against Colorado this season.
Chacin didn't issue a walk in a start for the first time in his career Saturday in an eight-inning shutout effort against Los Angeles. He could become the first Rockies rookie to finish with an ERA below 4 and at least 120 innings pitched.
Thoughts:
Lincecum has been back to his ace like ways and you've got to feel that the Giants have a chance to win this game. For some reason they always seem to come up with runs for Lincecum hopefully they can score early and often. Chacin has been a pretty good pitcher and that causes issues for this Giants team who for some reason only seem to hit against teams aces and their dregs. Hopefully they come in with some swagger as the first place team that just routed the Cubs.
Barry Zito, 9-13, 3.98 ERA vs. Jason Hammel, 10-8, 4.56 ERA
From MLB.com:
As a fly-ball pitcher who lacks a steamy fastball, Zito would figure to struggle at Coors Field. Yet he's a respectable 2-1 with a 3.52 ERA and a .227 opponents' batting average in six Coors starts.
Thoughts:
Zito has pitched well as of late and has had some real hard luck. All I can really hope for is 5 to 6 good innings and give the team a chance to win. He doesn't have to be perfect with a well rested and dominate bullpen behind him. A win here and the Giants could land the knock out blow to the Rockies playoff chances.
Matt Cain, 12-10, 3.00 ERA vs. Jorge de la Rosa, 8-5, 4.22 ERA
From MLB.com:
Cain has been San Francisco's most effective starter in the second half. The Giants have won 11 of his 13 outings since the All-Star break. He has exceeded 200 innings for the fourth year in a row.
De La Rosa gave up just his third home run to a left-handed hitter this season, a two-run Kelly Johnson shot, in his last start. But that truly hurt in a 3-1 loss to the D-backs. Still, De La Rosa threw seven innings and gave up three runs.
Thoughts:
Cain has been one of the best pitchers in baseball in the 2nd half. This month he has been the horse that has carried the team with more run support he could be looking 15 to 16 wins instead of just the 12 he has. The other thing Cain has done is pound the strike zone, this month he was a BB/9 of only 0.96 and a K/BB ratio of 7.00. These are great things especially going into a place like Coors Field where giving out free passes is the death of pitchers.
If your on Twitter you should definitely follow the The Crazy Crabbers. If you're not you should really consider joining, lots of good stuff going on there.
No comments:
Post a Comment