Colorado and San Francisco play the final game of a three-game series on Wednesday night, with the home team looking to avoid being swept for just the second time at AT&T Park.
Colorado Rockies at San Francisco Giants
Colorado is looking to pick up its first road-series sweep of the season, after grabbing a 2-1 extra-innings victory on Tuesday night. “We’re playing good baseball,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said. “Our mindset is really good right now. We’re in a very good place.” The Rockies are now 13-15 on the road this season (-180) and are winners of four straight away from Coors Field (+451). Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has led the offensive charge away from home, as he’s hitting .395 (17-for-43) in his last 13 road games. Colorado plays its seventh game on the road this season with a total of seven or less, tallying a 4-2 record in this situation thus far in 2010 (+220).
Rockies SP Jeff Francis was solid through five innings last Friday against the Dodgers, giving up four runs in the sixth inning. He has posted a 3-4 record and 5.86 ERA during his eight career starts at AT&T Park, but hasn’t faced the Giants since 2008. The left-hander has started just one road game this season, tossing 6.1 shutout innings in a 3-0 victory against the Kansas City Royals (+100). Francis has a great chance at success tonight, with the Giants coming in with a 6-9 mark against southpaws this season (-520).
San Francisco entered this series on a four-game winning streak and totaled 28 runs in that span, but now look to avoid a sweep after scoring just two runs in the first two games of this current series. The Giants are now a troublesome 7-14 against the NL West this season (-1,030), compared to their 20-7 record against the NL East and Central divisions. Despite Wednesday’s loss, San Francisco is still a red-hot 8-3 in their last 11 home contests, outscoring its opponent by a 50-31 margin. It’s also important to point out the dominant 34-11 record the team carries when placed as a home favorite of -125 to -150 the last three years (+1,920).
Giants SP Matt Cain has gone 3-4 with a 2.50 ERA in 10 starts this season, with the team compiling a 4-6 mark in his outings (-360). He is scheduled to make his 20th career start against the Rockies and his second of the young 2010 season, posting a 9-6 mark with a 3.03 ERA. He has held Rockies’ hitters to a combined .201 average in his career, which includes leaving leadoff batter Carlos Gonzalez hitless in 11at-bats. The right-hander is coming off a complete game shutout of the Arizona Diamondbacks, allowing just a single runner to reach base in the 5-0 victory. It’s the second start that Cain has produced in allowing just a single hit over at least eight innings of work this season. The Giants are 2-3 in his five starts at AT&T Park (-250).
Bettors that want to make a case of playing the Rockies to sweep the Giants don’t have to look far to make a case. San Francisco was swept by San Diego during a three-game series from May 11-13, but that’s the only time it’s happened all season. On the other hand, Colorado hasn’t picked up a road series sweep since a three-game series at Washington in August of last year.
