Giants and Rockies Close Short Series at Coors
San Francisco's four-game win streak has the Giants just a game out of the NL West lead as they close a short two-game series against the Rockies at Coors Field.
Talk about a quick baseball series. About 16 hours after the two playoff hopefuls ended Game 1 of their matchup on Tuesday, the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies close their set Wednesday afternoon at Coors Field.
The mini-series comes to an end with an intriguing pitching clash with Giants manager Bruce Bochy sending rookie left-hander Madison Bumgarner (4-3, 2.70) up against Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez (17-4, 2.67). Opening baseball betting lines all agreed on Jimenez and the Rockies as 175 chalk; the number has inched up a bit to 180 or 185. The total opened and remains at eight.
San Francisco coasted to a 10-0 win in Tuesday's game, cashing as 130 underdogs. Giants hitters jumped on Aaron Cook for a four-spot in the top of the first while Jonathan Sanchez combined with four relievers on a three-hit shutout that just scraped over the closing total of nine runs.
Since reaching the 13-1 mark in his first 14 assignments with a 1.15 ERA, Jimenez has found the road a bit more bumpy in his seven outings leading into this contest. In that span the Rocks are 4-3 in the right-hander's trips to the mound with Jimenez owning a 6.52 ERA. There have been good efforts, like the seven innings of four-hit, one-run ball he pitched at Coors last Thursday in a 9-3 win over the Pirates as a big 260 favorite. There have also been several bad linescores like his July 3 start at home against the Giants. San Francisco got to Jimenez for seven runs in six innings on its way to an 11-8 win as a plus 220 underdog.
Jimenez will be facing the Giants for a third time in 2010, the other being a four-hit shutout at AT&T Park on May 31. The Rockies are 3-4 in his last seven starts against San Francisco dating to the beginning of the 2009 campaign.
Bumgarner turned 21 this past Sunday and is really starting to turn some heads with his incredible minor league stats carrying over into the majors. In 62 starts down on the farm since 2008, the southpaw recorded a 34-6 personal W-L record with 315 strikeouts and just 77 walks in over 350 innings. The 10th overall selection in the 2008 draft out of Hickory, North Carolina has also been stingy with the long ball, allowing just 14 in the minors and five so far in the majors. Two of those were in his first start this season in late June, a 4-2 loss to the Red Sox.
This will be his second go at the Rockies, the other coming at Coors on July 1. Bumgarner worked through seven frames, allowed three earned runs and one homer to Carlos Gonzalez in the 7-3 loss as a plus 130 'dog. That defeat dropped him to 0-2 on the year, with San Fran winning four of his five starts since that game.
Greg Gibson has plate duty for this game, and he brings a strong 'under' lean into the contest with a 16-4-3 record that direction on the season. That includes an 8-2-2 tally when the number is eight or lower.
The Weather Channel is listing a 40 percent chance of afternoon t-storms in the Denver area for Wednesday. With both teams slated to fly two time zones east after the game, that could affect how the umpires handle any precipitation should it come. It should be in the upper-70s, low-80s when the game begins with NNE winds at 5-10 mph (in from right-center).
San Francisco's next stop on this road trip is Atlanta for four against the Braves and what should be four solid pitching matchups. Thursday's series opener begins with Tim Lincecum (16-6, 3.10) taking on Jair Jurrjens (6-5, 4.62).
Colorado's eight-game homestand comes to a close with this matinee performance. The Rockies will be in Pittsburgh starting Thursday for a four-game series, and are scheduled to have lefty Jeff Francis (8-6, 4.44) on the PNC Park mound. The Pirates counter with James McDonald (0-1, 8.22).
NOTE: W-L records displayed for starting pitchers are team records in games the pitchers start.
San Francisco's four-game win streak has the Giants just a game out of the NL West lead as they close a short two-game series against the Rockies at Coors Field.
Talk about a quick baseball series. About 16 hours after the two playoff hopefuls ended Game 1 of their matchup on Tuesday, the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies close their set Wednesday afternoon at Coors Field.
The mini-series comes to an end with an intriguing pitching clash with Giants manager Bruce Bochy sending rookie left-hander Madison Bumgarner (4-3, 2.70) up against Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez (17-4, 2.67). Opening baseball betting lines all agreed on Jimenez and the Rockies as 175 chalk; the number has inched up a bit to 180 or 185. The total opened and remains at eight.
San Francisco coasted to a 10-0 win in Tuesday's game, cashing as 130 underdogs. Giants hitters jumped on Aaron Cook for a four-spot in the top of the first while Jonathan Sanchez combined with four relievers on a three-hit shutout that just scraped over the closing total of nine runs.
Since reaching the 13-1 mark in his first 14 assignments with a 1.15 ERA, Jimenez has found the road a bit more bumpy in his seven outings leading into this contest. In that span the Rocks are 4-3 in the right-hander's trips to the mound with Jimenez owning a 6.52 ERA. There have been good efforts, like the seven innings of four-hit, one-run ball he pitched at Coors last Thursday in a 9-3 win over the Pirates as a big 260 favorite. There have also been several bad linescores like his July 3 start at home against the Giants. San Francisco got to Jimenez for seven runs in six innings on its way to an 11-8 win as a plus 220 underdog.
Jimenez will be facing the Giants for a third time in 2010, the other being a four-hit shutout at AT&T Park on May 31. The Rockies are 3-4 in his last seven starts against San Francisco dating to the beginning of the 2009 campaign.
Bumgarner turned 21 this past Sunday and is really starting to turn some heads with his incredible minor league stats carrying over into the majors. In 62 starts down on the farm since 2008, the southpaw recorded a 34-6 personal W-L record with 315 strikeouts and just 77 walks in over 350 innings. The 10th overall selection in the 2008 draft out of Hickory, North Carolina has also been stingy with the long ball, allowing just 14 in the minors and five so far in the majors. Two of those were in his first start this season in late June, a 4-2 loss to the Red Sox.
This will be his second go at the Rockies, the other coming at Coors on July 1. Bumgarner worked through seven frames, allowed three earned runs and one homer to Carlos Gonzalez in the 7-3 loss as a plus 130 'dog. That defeat dropped him to 0-2 on the year, with San Fran winning four of his five starts since that game.
Greg Gibson has plate duty for this game, and he brings a strong 'under' lean into the contest with a 16-4-3 record that direction on the season. That includes an 8-2-2 tally when the number is eight or lower.
The Weather Channel is listing a 40 percent chance of afternoon t-storms in the Denver area for Wednesday. With both teams slated to fly two time zones east after the game, that could affect how the umpires handle any precipitation should it come. It should be in the upper-70s, low-80s when the game begins with NNE winds at 5-10 mph (in from right-center).
San Francisco's next stop on this road trip is Atlanta for four against the Braves and what should be four solid pitching matchups. Thursday's series opener begins with Tim Lincecum (16-6, 3.10) taking on Jair Jurrjens (6-5, 4.62).
Colorado's eight-game homestand comes to a close with this matinee performance. The Rockies will be in Pittsburgh starting Thursday for a four-game series, and are scheduled to have lefty Jeff Francis (8-6, 4.44) on the PNC Park mound. The Pirates counter with James McDonald (0-1, 8.22).
NOTE: W-L records displayed for starting pitchers are team records in games the pitchers start.