NL West rivals Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants open a three-game series on Tuesday night at Oracle Park.
The Rockies are 23-31 on the season and they are at the bottom of the NL West Division, a far 12 games behind the division leader Los Angeles Dodgers. Colorado is 3-7 in their last 10 games played and heads to San Francisco with a four-game losing streak after getting swept by the Atlanta Braves in their most recent series.
The Giants are 29-24 this campaign and they are currently in third place in the NL West Division. San Francisco is just 3.5 games behind the second-place San Diego Padres and 5.5 games off the Dodgers’ pace. The Giants are 5-5 in their last 10 games played and split their most recent four-game series against the Miami Marlins.
These teams have played six times this season with the Giants winning five times.
Brian Severn and Charlie Blackmon hit home runs in the final two innings as the Rockies made Game 4 of their previous series against the Braves interesting. Despite that, they dropped the contest 8-7 and lost for the 4th consecutive time.
C.J. Cron leads the Rockies in home runs and RBIs with 14 and 40, respectively. Those put him 5th in the big league in home runs and 7th in runs batted in. Blackmon has seven doubles, one triple, eight home runs, and 16 walks while batting at .244. Meanwhile, Connor Joe is batting at .263 with nine doubles, three triples, four home runs, and 28 walks. Brendan Rodgers has 10 doubles, six home runs, and 11 walks while hitting at .266
Venezuelan German Marquez will open on top of the mound for Colorado on Tuesday. The 27-year-old has started in 10 games this season and has posted a 1-5 record with an ERA of 6.71 and a WHIP of 1.62. Marquez has allowed a total of 47 runs on 71 hits with 46 strikeouts and 18 walks on the season.
In his most recent start, Marquez allowed 7 runs on 7 hits in 5 innings pitched but did not factor in the decision as the Giants beat the Marlins 13-12 in 10 innings. Colorado is however just 2-4 in German’s last six starts of the season.
The Giants split their four-game set against the Marlins by winning on Sunday behind a 1 run and 2 hits six-inning pitching performance by Jakob Junis. With the win, the Giants remained in third place in the NL West, just 5.5 games behind the Dodgers.
Wilmer Flores is the Giants’ RBI leader with 31 while hitting at .256 with six home runs. Joc Pederson leads the team with 13 home runs and in his last five games, Pederson is batting .294 with a double, two home runs, two walks, and 3 RBIs. Thairo Estrada is batting .275 with 12 doubles, 3 home runs, and 11 walks. Mike Yastrzemski leads the Giants in hitting at .279 on the season.
Left-hander Carlos Rodon will start for the Giants in this series opener. The 29-year-old from Miami, Florida is 4-4 in 10 starts this season with an ERA of 3.44 and a WHIP of 1.25. Rodon has pitched in a total of 55.0 innings this season while allowing 22 runs on 48 hits with 70 strikeouts and 21 walks.
Rodon did not factor in the decision in his most recent start where he allowed two runs on six hits in 5.0 innings pitched in a game where the Giants lost to the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5. San Francisco is 1-5 in his last six starts with losses in each of the last four.
The Rockies are 6-22 in their last 28 games played against the Giants. The Rockies are also 17-35 in the last 52 meetings in San Francisco.
The Rockies are:
The Giants are:
The Giants have won 61.9% of the games where they were favorites this season or 26/42. They also have a win rate of 63.6% or a record of 7-4 when listed with odds of -170 or better. On the other hand, the Rockies are 14/40 as betting underdogs this season or 35%. Colorado is just 1-9 in 10 games played as bottom dogs of +150 or longer.
Rodon has picked up a pair of hard-luck losses in his last three starts. However, he has not pitched that badly at all during that stretch. Rodon conceded six earned runs on 18 hits with 8 walks in a total of 16.1 innings pitched Meanwhile, Marquez has been shaky in his most recent three starts with 15 earned runs on 24 hits with seven walks in 17.0 innings of pitch work during that span.
No question that the Giants have the better starter on Tuesday. If their offense can provide him enough cushion, San Francisco should take a victory here.
Prediction: San Francisco Giants
The total has gone over in five out of the last six meetings between these two teams. The over is also 7-3 in the last 10 meetings in San Francisco.
Colorado Rockies over/under trends:
San Francisco Giants over/under trends:
The Giants are one of the top offensive teams in the majors this season. They have scored 273 runs this season which ranks third overall and is batting at .244 for the campaign which is 6th best in baseball. They have scored 5 or more runs in six out of their last eight games played.
The Rockies are batting at .262 this season, the second-best mark in the majors. Colorado’s 253 runs scored this season are also ranked 8th best overall while their on-base percentage of .327 is no. 3 in MLB. They have scored seven or more runs in four out of their last seven contests.
These teams have combined to score an average of 10.7 runs per game in their last 10 head-to-head meetings and an even higher 12.67 runs per game in their last three encounters. They have hit at least 8 total runs in each of their last six head-to-head meetings. This game should produce a total score of better than 8 runs.
Prediction: Over 7.5
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