Colorado Rockies Preview

The San Francisco Giants are happy to be back at home this week as they took two of three from the powerful Washington Nationals.  With a day off today, the Rockies come into AT&T Park having taken two of three from the Arizona Diamondbacks and are currently in a three way tie for first place with the Diamondbacks and Giants.  The teams have 26 – 21 records. 

The Giants had a tough road trip where last week, they lost three of four in Colorado and commited 13 errors on the six game road trip.  The Giants bounced back earlier in the week and are looking for some revenge from the last time these two teams met up. 

On Friday, Tim Lincecum looks to bounce back from a six earned run, six inning start.  The most important thing he needs to focus on is establishing command of his fastball and getting strike one.  We know Lincecum is effectively wild, but he is at his best when he can get that first pitch strike.  It allows him to throw more of his off speed pitches in the dirt which makes his hitters chase and so the powerful Rockies line up will not capitalize on mistake pitches.  Tyler Chatwood opposes Lincecum and if Lincecum is on his game, paired with the pitcher friendly dimensions of AT&T Park, he can keep the Giants in the game and they can pull out a win. 

Saturday's day game features Juan Nicasio taking on Barry Zito.  Zito is a completely different pitcher at home, and even though his away pitching needs work, the Giants want to focus on winning one game at a time.  Zito has a 0.55 ERA at home in 33 innings pitched, while on the road opposing hitters are batting .420.  This is a stark contrast, and expect Zito to throw a good game on Saturday.  While for Nicasio, the Giants could not figure him out as he shut out the Giants for seven innings, only to see his bullpen do the same.  This will be a pitcher's duel so expect a low scoring game. 

On Sunday, the Giants took advantage of their off day today and moved up Matt Cain to take Ryan Vogelsong's spot in the rotation.  Vogelsong broke his hand Monday on an inside pitch while he was batting.  He will miss 4 – 6 weeks, and had a successful surgery on Tuesday.  Cain's last start went very well and after some first inning doubles, he settled down and only allowed two earned runs in seven innings against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday.  Jon Garland opposes and he has dropped four of his last five starts. 

The Giants are looking for some revenge this weekend expect them to take two of three from the Colorado Rockies.  Our next preview will be posted Monday on our YouTube Channel as the Giants take on the A's for a four game series with two at each ballpark.