In the second of a three-game series between the San Francisco Giants (40-35) and the Colorado Rockies (40-35) at AT&T Park, Tim Lincecum (7-4, 3.86 ERA) and Chris Rusin (3-2, 5.03 ERA) take the mound. The Rockies won the last game 8-6 and Colorado leads the series 1-0. The game gets underway at 4:05 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jun. 27 and will air on ROOT-RM and CSN-BAY.
Lincecum is 11-10 with a 3.96 ERA against the Rockies in his career, and faces a solid Colorado offense that’s hitting .271 on the year. Joe Panik (.316, 38 Rs, 6 HRs, 30 RBIs, 3 SBs) continued his strong season yesterday, going 3 for 4 with one RBI. In his pitching opportunities against the Giants, Rusin is 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA, three strikeouts and two walks. Nolan Arenado (.290, 46 Rs, 22 HRs, 64 RBIs) has been doing well offensively for the Rockies, going 2 for 4 yesterday with two runs, two home runs, and four RBIs.
San Francisco, a -148 favorite, will look to capitalize at home against Colorado. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is set at seven runs. When playing as the favorite, the Giants have an 18-21 record and overall money line at +257. They have an SU record of 20-21 against teams in their division and a 6-14 record when they were the favorite in those games. The Giants have one of the most prolific offenses in the entire NL, averaging 4.2 runs per game. The Giants lead the NL in hits with 9.3 per game. They typically aren’t overmatched by pitchers, ranking second in the NL with an average of only 6.8 strikeouts per game. As for the San Francisco defense and pitching staff, teams routinely struggle to score runs against the Giants, who allow only 3.4 runs per home game. The Giants don’t give up many hits to opposing batters at AT&T Park, ranking fourth in the NL with only 8.3 hits allowed per home game.
On the other side, the Rockies have a record of 25-26 when they are the underdog and are -483 overall with the money line. Against divisional opponents, they are 15-22 SU and have played poorly as the underdog with a 13-15 record. They sport the top-ranked offense in the NL, averaging 4.6 runs per game. Colorado is one of the top hitting teams in the league with 229 extra base hits. Playing against NL West foes really brings the worst out of the Colorado pitchers. They allow 6.0 runs per game against teams within their division, which is higher than their season average of 5.1.
The Rockies had the upper hand against the Giants in their previous 10 games this season, earning a 7-3 record. The Giants will take on a left-hander (Rusin) in this game and have a 10-6 record against left-handed starting pitchers this season. Taking the hill against the Rockies will be the right-hander Lincecum. They sport a 29-30 record against righties.
Predictions: SU Winner – SF, O/U – Over
Notes
When leading after 7 innings, San Francisco is 11-10, while Colorado is 15-15.
The Giants are coming into this game after allowing two walks during their last outing. The Rockies have a 16-29 record when opponents give up that many walks or fewer.
When they are outhit, the Giants are 3-22. The Rockies have a 5-28 record when opponents outhit them.
Ranking 24th in home runs, San Francisco has hit 58 this season. Colorado ranks seventh with 85 home runs.
Ranking first in hits, San Francisco has earned 9.28 per game this season. Colorado ranks second with 9.21 hits.
Ranking eighth, San Francisco is in the top 10 of the league for its on-base plus slugging percentage (.732). Colorado ranks in the top five at third with an OPS of .759.
The Rockies are 15-30 in games where they allow one or more home runs. The Giants are 20-22 when they allow at least one homer.
