Regardless of where they’ve played recently, the San Francisco Giants have gotten the better of the Colorado Rockies.
The Giants swept a three-game series against them in San Francisco last week and then beat them 7-6 Monday night in Denver on Mike Yastrzemski’s ninth-inning homer.
The Giants have won 11 straight from Colorado and will go for 12 in a row when the teams meet Tuesday night.
San Francisco will send veteran right-hander Alex Cobb (2-1, 3.98 ERA) to the hill against righty Chad Kuhl (3-1, 2.88) of the Rockies.
Kuhl will make his fifth career start against the Giants and the second in less than a week. He took his first loss in San Francisco’s 7-1 win on Wednesday. He is 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA in his four career starts against the Giants.
The loss Monday night left the Rockies feeling frustrated against their NL West Division rivals, much like outfielder Randal Grichuk was feeling recently.
Grichuk, acquired from Toronto in March, had endured a slump that saw him go hitless in 18 straight at-bats before he delivered a two-run single against Kansas City on Sunday. Grichuk had worked in the cage and off the tee, but a change in equipment made a difference, too — vision correction.
Grichuk was fitted for prescription athletic glasses and has started using contact lenses, too, and he says he can tell a difference. He had two hits Monday and said it will just be a matter of which he uses, and it will depend on the circumstances.
“I’ll probably try to stick with the contacts; then if it’s a windy night I’ll switch to the glasses,” Grichuk said. “Over the long haul, it’s going to be better. I can see better. Depth perception-wise it was a little funky. But if the contacts can sit well, I know over the long haul it’s going to be good.”
Cobb has faced the Rockies twice in his career and is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA against them. One of those outings came at Coors Field, where he picked up a win in 6 2/3 innings of work.
Monday’s victory ended a two-game skid for the Giants. It also marked the season debut of Tommy La Stella, who had been on the injured list with an Achilles’ tendon injury that dated to the start of the offseason. He played nine rehab games before returning to the lineup against the Rockies.
He went 0-for-1, but it didn’t diminish the impact he has on the lineup.
“Tommy is one of the better plate appearances in baseball right now, simple as that,” San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler said. “He has great discipline, fouls off pitches, is extremely competitive in the batter’s box. He’s kind of the epitome of what we want our hitters to be — make a lot of contact, drive the baseball, occasionally draw a walk here and there, and keep the line moving.”
La Stella was eased back into action, serving as the designated hitter on Monday night. He grounded out to the pitcher in his only at-bat and was lifted for a pinch hitter in the fifth.
–Field Level Media
