The San Francisco Giants will look to complete their second consecutive season demolition of the Colorado Rockies on Thursday night in a game that could be left-hander Carlos Rodon’s last for the home team at Oracle Park.
The Giants (77-78) have beaten Colorado (65-90) 5-2 and 6-3 in the first two meetings of their three-game set, improving their record over their National League West rival to 13-5 this season.
A 14th win would equal the second-most by the Giants in a season series against the Rockies, trailing only last year’s 15-4 rampage.
Rodon (13-8, 2.98 ERA) has gone 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA this season against Colorado, with the win coming on May 9 when he struck out 12 in six innings of an 8-5 victory.
The veteran left-hander did not contribute to the Giants’ 2021 success because he was with the Chicago White Sox. He signed a two-year, $44 million contract with the Giants in free agency in March, but he earned the right to opt out of the second year (worth $22.5 million) by pitching more than 110 innings this season.
Rodon has given no indication he plans to return to the Giants next season, leading some to speculate that he — as one of the top starters on the market — will go after a more lucrative contract elsewhere.
The two-time All-Star has already surpassed his career-highs in innings (172) and strikeouts (227), and with one more win would break a tie with last season, when he recorded a career-best 13 wins for the White Sox.
Rodon has started just three times in his career against the Rockies, going 1-1 with a 5.87 ERA.
Rodon served up a home run and two deep flyballs the only three times he faced Charlie Blackmon in a 2017 game, but he won’t have to worry about him this time.
The Rockies announced Wednesday that their veteran outfielder is done for the season after he suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee. Surgery has been scheduled for Monday.
“Charlie’s played through a lot of pain in his career,” Rockies manager Bud Black noted. “It just got to the point where it was not going to be manageable for him.”
Blackmon had two hits, scored a run and had an RBI in Tuesday’s 5-2 loss.
The Rockies have scheduled right-hander Ryan Feltner (3-8, 5.91) to start the series finale, into which the Giants bring a three-game winning streak. San Francisco has won eight of its past nine games.
Feltner has pitched well his last two times out, limiting the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres to a total of five runs in 10 1/3 innings. The Rockies won both games 4-3.
The 26-year-old limited the Giants to one run and two hits in a 4-3 win in Colorado last month, the last time the Rockies have gotten the better of the NL West defending champs. It was the only time he’s faced San Francisco in his career.
He could see a revenge-minded Joc Pederson this time around, after the Giants’ hottest hitter of late struck out three times on an 0-for-4 night in the August head-to-head.
Pederson acknowledges he hasn’t gotten a lot of satisfaction out of a fast personal finish, one that has included a homer, two triples and a single in this series.
“It’s not fun,” he insisted. “I like playing in the playoffs. I signed up here after this team won 107 games expecting to compete again. Things didn’t go our way. It happens.”
–Field Level Media
