Rockies at Giants
If the San Francisco Giants are to hold off the Los Angeles Dodgers and
Arizona Diamondbacks for the National League West title, they will need
someone other than Buster Posey to provide consistent hitting. The Giants also need to
re-establish their supremacy at home as they try to continue their
mastery of Colorado when they host the Rockies on Sunday in the finale
of a three-game series. San Francisco has won only twice in its last 10
games at AT&T Park, including Saturday's 9-3 victory. Posey leads
the majors with a .443 average since the All-Star break. San Francisco,
which has won 14 of the last 18 meetings with Colorado, leads Los
Angeles by one game and Arizona by five.
The Giants are sixth in the majors with a 3.55 ERA, but have hit only 73
homers - second-lowest only to Los Angeles' 69 - and a major
league-worst 18 at home. They are also 23rd with a .243 average with
runners in scoring position. San Francisco's Barry Zito is coming off
his first win in four starts. He will oppose Colorado rookie Alex White,
who has allowed two runs in 9 1/3 innings in two starts since returning
to the rotation. The Rockies, who are 3-2 on their six-game road trip,
will try to win back-to-back road series for the first time this season.
They shut out the Giants 3-0 on Friday after winning two of three at
Los Angeles earlier this week.
TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, Root Sports (Colorado), CS Bay Area (San Francisco)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies RH Alex White (2-6, 5.75 ERA) vs. Giants LH Barry Zito (9-8, 4.19)
With the Rockies imposing a pitch limit of about 75 on its starters, it
is harder for them to earn a victory. White needed 80 pitches to get
through four shutout innings in Colorado's 3-1 victory at Los Angeles on
Tuesday. He left his previous start after 5 1/3 innings and 84 pitches
trailing 2-1 before the Rockies rallied for an 8-2 victory over St.
Louis on Aug. 2. White is 0-2 with an 8.38 in two starts - both last
September - against the Giants. Brandon Belt is 3-for-5 with two homers
and four RBIs against White.
Zito allowed two runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings in the Giants' 4-2
victory at St. Louis on Tuesday. He had lost his previous two starts,
allowing 11 runs and 13 hits in 9 2/3 innings, and has yielded five
homers in his last five outings. Zito is 6-2 with a 2.39 ERA in 18
appearances (16 starts) against the Rockies. Colorado's roster is
hitting .209 against him, but Carlos Gonzalez is hitting .348 (8-for-23)
with a homer, triple and five RBIs.
WALK-OFFS
1. Colorado rookie INF Josh Rutledge is hitting .324 with six homers and
19 RBIs in his first 25 games, but is 2-for-21 with a solo homer in
five games against San Francisco.
2. San Francisco INF Pablo Sandoval (hamstring) went 0-for-2 in his
first rehab start Friday with Triple-A San Jose and could join the
Giants as soon as Monday when they host Washington.
3. Colorado closer Rafael Betancourt hasn't allowed a hit in his last
seven appearances - all one inning. He has five saves and lowered his
ERA by .55 runs to 2.63 during that span.