The Major League Baseball journey from game one to game 162 has so many twists and turns. One of the bigger early-season surprises is that the Colorado Rockies have managed to be the second-place team in the National League West. However, things that are true in May are often not true anymore in July, August or September. The pressure in this series is on Colorado to show it can keep up with the big boys in its division.
Series Preview: San Francisco Giants @ Colorado Rockies
Game 1: Tuesday, May 20
8:40 PM ET
Odds: Giants -125
The battle for first place in the National League West begins with a pitching matchup that should definitely work in favor of the visiting Giants. San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner will go to the mound with a solid 3.25 ERA. He’ll be opposed by Colorado’s Franklin Morales, who is burdened with a 5.40 ERA and is not the same caliber of pitcher. Bumgarner has steadily been better than Morales this season, and on a career-long basis as well. There’s very little reason to think that Morales is going to step up and provide a quality start. Colorado, playing at home at Coors Field, might be able to go wild against Bumgarner, but the smart money should stick with San Francisco in this situation.
Pick: San Francisco
Game 2: Wednesday, May 21
8:40 PM ET
This is a tough pitching matchup to read. The Giants have the bigger name on the mound, but do they have the better pitcher? Matt Cain is a much more established and well-known pitcher than Jhoulys Chacin of Colorado. Yet, when you look at the ERA numbers, these guys are evenly matched. Cain has a 4.33 ERA and Chacin checks in at 4.76. There’s not a lot of daylight between those two numbers, and so if the Giants do get off to a good start in game one of this series on Tuesday, it’s probable that Colorado will have a sharper edge in game two on Wednesday and will be a bit more ready to take good swings at the plate. Unless Cain can really step things up, the Rockies have a really good chance to win this game and presumably even up the series at one game apiece.
Pick: Colorado
Game 3: Thursday, May 22
3:10 PM ET
This series finale features a set of circumstances that most baseball experts probably didn’t anticipate before the season began. The 4.14 ERA for Colorado starter Jorge De La Rosa is normal, but the 2.09 ERA of San Francisco starter Tim Hudson is shocking. Hudson was injured last season, and when he went to the Giants from the Atlanta Braves, there were plenty of questions about his durability so late into a long and productive career. Did Hudson have anything left? That was the big question many baseball people had. Yet, Hudson is not only surviving in the majors. He’s doing really, really well. This is a reason the Giants are in first place, and it’s a reason San Francisco is probably going to win this game.
Pick: San Francisco
