The San Francisco Giants will try for 11 straight wins against the Colorado Rockies when they open a three-game series on Monday night in Denver.
The Giants swept the Rockies in three games last week in San Francisco to match their longest winning streak against one opponent since beating the Cincinnati Reds in 10 straight in 1933-34.
San Francisco has outscored Colorado 78-28 during the winning streak and recorded at least 10 hits in each of the wins.
The Rockies should be a welcome sight for the Giants, who have lost two in a row following a season-best six-game winning streak. The wins over the Rockies helped fuel that streak.
San Francisco lost 15-6 at the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday night. In a game so lopsided, veteran slugger Albert Pujols pitched the ninth inning for St. Louis, the first time he has played that position in his 22-year MLB career.
One of the highlights for the Giants was a two-run homer by Joc Pederson in the sixth inning. San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler hopes that at-bat will spark the veteran outfielder, who was 1-for-30 before hitting the blast and had not homered in nearly three weeks.
“He’s here because he rakes,” Kapler said of Pederson. “Every time I look at him, I think, ‘You rake.’ You know how to manage an at-bat, and at any given time you could go off and hit three doubles and a home run in a two-game stretch.”
The Rockies are coming off a difficult loss as well, though in a much different way. They scored seven runs in the seventh inning on Sunday to take a 7-6 lead against the visiting Kansas City Royals, only to give up a go-ahead two-run single in the ninth and lose 8-7.
“We’ll be fine,” Colorado manager Bud Black said. “Baseball players, because of the amount of games that they’ve played over the course of their careers, (know) there are tough losses. You learn to turn the page and bounce back.”
A bright spot for the Rockies has been the play of center fielder Yonathan Daza, who is hitting .383 in 25 games and owns a miniscule 6.1 percent strikeout rate.
“There are times in the past when we have seen Daza chase, but he’s not (now),” Black said. “He’s laying off balls and he’s getting hits.”
Giants left-hander Alex Wood and Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela will match up for the second time in six days.
Wood (3-2, 3.60 ERA) came out on top last Tuesday, holding the Rockies without an earned run over 5 1/3 innings in the 9-2 victory.
Wood is 7-3 in 20 career appearances (17 starts) against the Rockies, with a 5.32 ERA.
The Rockies came into Sunday hitting .309 against left-handed pitchers, the best average in the majors, but went just 3-for-18 off Kansas City southpaw Daniel Lynch (.167).
Senzatela, meanwhile, had his shortest outing of the season in his last start, getting lifted after surrendering five runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings against the Giants.
Senzatela (2-2, 4.88) is 5-2 in 11 career appearances against the Giants, including nine starts, with a 4.77 ERA.
Giants first baseman Brandon Belt is 10-for-26 in his career against Senzatela, with six doubles.
–Field Level Media
