Madison Bumgarner (16-7, 2.96 ERA), attemping to pick up his 200th strikeout of the season, starts for the San Francisco Giants (70-66) as they square off against Yohan Flande (3-1, 4.04 ERA) and the Colorado Rockies (56-79) in the last of a four-game series at Coors Field. The Giants won the last game 7-3 and Colorado leads the series 2-1. Action begins at 4:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sep. 6 and can be seen on RTRM and CSBy.
Flande pitched 5.0 innings in his most recent start, surrendering two runs, striking out five and walking three in a 6-4 defeat to the Diamondbacks. Nolan Arenado (.288, 82 Rs, 36 HRs, 105 RBIs, 1 SB) went 1 for 4 yesterday with one run, one home run, and two RBIs. Bumgarner went 7.0 innings, surrendering two runs, striking out eight and walking one in a 2-1 defeat to the Dodgers in his last outing. Buster Posey (.325, 63 Rs, 16 HRs, 80 RBIs, 2 SBs) went 1 for 2 yesterday.
San Francisco is favored (-185) over Colorado and the Over/Under (O/U) is sitting at 10 runs. The Rockies have recorded an overall money line of -1,376 and have shown a weak performance as an underdog this season with a record of 39-59. Colorado has had a discouraging season against division opponents, earning records of 16-25 and 22-33 as the underdog and SU respectively. The Rockies have no trouble scoring as they lead the NL in home offense with 5.5 runs per home game. The Rockies lead the NL in hits at home with an impressive 10.6 per game. Colorado’s pitching staff has been doing better against opposing offenses during the last 10 games, only allowing an average of 3.5 runs per game, well under their season average of 5.2.
In games where it is the favorite, San Francisco has a 39-29 record and an overall money line of -246. They have managed to pull off a perfect record over their last ten games playing as the favorite, and have a 3-7 SU record over the same span. Offensively, they average 4.2 runs per game, which is good for fifth in the NL. The Giants are tough outs for opponents, ranking third in the NL with 9.2 hits per game. San Francisco is excellent at not striking out with just 7.1 per game, ranking second in the NL. When it comes to issuing walks, the Giants have the fifth-fewest in the NL with an average of just 2.6 walks allowed per game.
The Rockies lead the season series, 9-6. The Rockies have a bad 5-22 record against left-handed starting pitchers on the year, which is what they’ll be facing when Bumgarner takes the mound. Flande (LHP) will be on the hill against the Giants, who have a 17-17 record against left-handed starting pitchers.
Predictions: SU Winner – SF, O/U – Over
Notes
When leading after 7 innings, San Francisco is 31-21, while Colorado is 26-35.
The Giants are coming into this game after allowing two walks during their last outing. The Rockies have a 26-53 record when opponents give up that many walks or fewer.
When they outhit their opponents, the Rockies are 43-15. The Giants have a 61-11 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 13th, San Francisco sits in the top half of the league in runs, scoring 577 this season. Colorado ranks in the top five at fourth with 610.
Ranking 26th, Colorado is near the bottom of the league in walks, notching 319 this season. San Francisco ranks in the bottom half at 19th with 370.
When the Rockies hit at least one home run, they are 47-46. When the Giants hit at least one homer, they have a 48-24 record.