NL West rivals will begin a three-game series on Friday night when the San Francisco Giants visit the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. San Francisco has a lot of work to do in the Wild Card race at 59-59 after splitting a four-game set with the Arizona Diamondbacks including a 5-0 defeat on Thursday as a -148 favorite. Colorado was swept by the St. Louis Cardinals in three games including a 13-0 beatdown on Thursday as a +229 underdog, remaining well out of contention at 51-69.
The Giants have doubled up the Rockies with a 6-3 advantage in the season series thus far.
San Francisco isn't making much ground up in the NL Wild Card race, and settled for a four-game split with Arizona after winning the first two contests. The offense managed four hits in Thursday's finale, finishing 0-4 with runners in scoring position an a rough effort.
Logan Webb had one of his worst outings of the year, allowing five runs (three earned) on nine hits and three walks in 4.2 innings, failing to record a strikeout. Evan Longoria had a multi-hit game including a double to pace the offense.
“The stuff wasn’t great, but I thought I was competing,” Webb said to MLB.com. “They’ve got a sneaky good lineup, honestly. [The D-backs are the] lowest in chase rate in baseball. I’ve got to figure something out against them.”
The Giants are down a huge number on the money line as they have fallen short of expectations while going 53-65 on the run line. Overs are 58-55-5 for the Giants, with each of their last four games going under the betting total.
Despite Thursday's effort, the Giants are eighth in scoring at 4.54 runs per game on a .717 team OPS. San Francisco pitching is only middle of the pack with a 3.91 ERA including a mark of 4.42 from a bullpen that has fallen way off from last year.
Joc Pederson has proven to be a nice free agent addition, posting an .820 OPS with 17 homers and 46 driven in. Wilmer Flores has also hit well with a .782 OPS, 16 homers and 58 driven in.
Alex Wood will make his 24th start of the year, having gone 8-9 with a 4.18 ERA and strong 119:27 K:BB ratio over 118.1 innings. The 31-year-old went six innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, allowing three runs on five hits and one walk while piling up nine strikeouts.
Third baseman Colton Welk er is recovering from shoulder surgery. Starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is out due to ankle surgery. Relievers Mauricio Llovera (strained flexor), Jose Alvarez (elbow inflammation) and Sam Delaplane (Tommy John surgery) are sidelined.