The top two teams in the N.L. wild-card standings continue their weekend series at Coors Field, with the Rockies’ Jorge De La Rosa (7-7, 4.95 ERA) scheduled to face off against fellow southpaw Jonathan Sanchez (3-8, 4.68).
San Francisco followed up Thursday’s 5-1 victory in Atlanta with Friday’s 3-1 win over Colorado, getting seven strong innings from All-Star Matt Cain. Despite those two wins, the Giants remain just 3-6 in their last nine, including winning just three times through the first seven games of their current 10-game road trip, and they’re now 3-7 in their last 10 on the highway. On the bright side, Bruce Bochy’s squad has won seven of its last eight against left-handed starters and six of its last eight N.L. West contests.
Colorado is 6-3 in its last nine and has been one of the best teams in baseball over the past two months, recording runs of 32-12 overall and 16-7 at home. Additionally, the Rockies are on upticks of 8-3 against left-handed starters and 6-0 when facing southpaws at Coors Field.
The Giants own a 4-2 edge in the season series in 2009, but going back to last year, Colorado has won seven of the last 12 clashes.
Sanchez followed up his stunning no-hitter over the Padres on July 10 with a quality start at Atlanta on Monday, giving up three runs on four hits in six innings, but he got a no-decision as his team got blasted 11-3. With Sanchez starting, San Francisco is mired in funks of 6-21 overall (1-5 last six), 3-13 on the road (0-8 this season) and 0-4 on Saturday.
Including Monday’s effort against the Braves, Sanchez is 0-7 with a 6.02 ERA in his eight road start this year. He’s also 1-2 with a 7.47 ERA in 13 appearances (six starts) versus Colorado, but the Giants are 4-2 in those six starts.
De La Rosa is working on a personal five-game winning streak, and the Rockies are 8-1 in his last nine trips to the mound (including one relief appearance) and 5-0 in his last five outings (four starts) at home. On Monday, De La Rosa held the DBacks to a run on four hits in seven innings of a 10-6 road win, and he has a 1.98 ERA in his last four starts. Still, the lefty is just 4-5 with a 5.81 ERA at home.
In seven career appearances (four starts) against San Francisco, De La Rosa is a perfect 3-0 with a 2.33 ERA. His four starts versus the Giants all came last year, and he gave up a combined five runs (three earned) on 16 hits in 25 1/3 innings (1.07 ERA), and Colorado won all four games.
San Francisco carries “under” trends of 6-2 overall, 8-2 on the highway, 5-1 against winning teams and 18-8-3 in N.L. West contests. Also, the under is 5-1-1 in Sanchez’s last seven road starts and 5-0-1 in his last six outings against division rivals, and Colorado has stayed low in nine of De La Rosa’s last 12 starts against the N.L. West and three of his four starts against the Giants.
Conversely, four of the last five Giants-Rockies clashes at Coors Field have soared over the total, the lone “under” occurring Friday.
ATS ADVANTAGE: COLORADO and UNDER
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Chicago White Sox (50-47) at Detroit (51-44)
Fresh off Friday’s doubleheader sweep of the White Sox, the Tigers look to continue their mastery of their A.L. Central rivals when they send All-Star Edwin Jackson (7-5, 2.52) to the mound opposite Chicago’s Gavin Floyd (8-6, 4.40) at Comerica Park.
Detroit got a complete-game gem from Justin Verlander en route to a 5-1 victory in the first game of Friday’s twin bill, then came back and took the nightcap 4-3. Neither club is playing with much consistency, as the Tigers have lost 13 of their last 23 games while the White Sox are 8-9 in their last 17.
Chicago is in slumps of 1-6 on the road, 3-8 against right-handed starters and 1-5 in A.L. Central contests, but Ozzie Guillen’s squad is 8-1 in his last nine games on Saturday and 14-7 in its last 21 on grass. Meanwhile, Detroit carries positive streaks of 15-4 at home, 21-8 as a home chalk, 6-1 versus division foes and 6-2 as a chalk, but the Tigers have dropped four in a row on Saturday.
Detroit is 6-4 against the Pale Hose this year, and the host has won 14 of the last 21 meetings.
Floyd was sharp in his first post-All-Star break start, giving up three runs on three hits in seven innings of Monday’s 4-3 home win over Tampa Bay. With Floyd on the bump, the White Sox are on streaks of 7-2 overall, 4-1 as an underdog, 4-1 against division rivals, 7-3 on Saturday and 18-6 when he pitches on four days’ rest. However, they have lost six of Floyd’s last eight outings on the road, where the right-hander is 4-4 with a beefy 6.03 ERA in 10 starts this year.
Chicago is 10-1 in Floyd’s 11 career starts against the Tigers, including 4-1 in five games at Comerica Park. Personally, Floyd is 5-0 with a 3.55 ERA in those 11 starts against Detroit, with two of them coming this season. He got rocked for six runs in five innings at Comerica on April 13, but the Sox rallied for a 10-6 victory. Two months later at home, Floyd allowed just one run in eight innings of a 4-3 win.
Jackson is coming off a tough 2-1 loss at the Yankees as he gave up both runs in seven innings The right-hander, who ranks third in the American League in ERA, has surrendered three earned runs or less in 13 consecutive trips to the mound, including two earned or less nine times. However, the Tigers have only split Jackson’s last 10 starts, scoring three runs or fewer in seven of those contests.
The Tigers have won five in a row behind Jackson at home (all as a favorite), and they’re 7-2 in his last nine overall as a chalk. At home this year, the 25-year-old is 4-1 with a 2.73 ERA, but he’s 1-2 with a 5.93 ERA in five career starts against the White Sox, including a no-decision in a 4-3 Tigers loss in Chicago on June 11 in which he gave up two runs, five hits and four walks in five innings.
Chicago has stayed under the total in five straight games, but otherwise the team is on “over” runs of 4-1-1 on the road, 4-1 against the A.L. Central, 9-2 when Floyd works on the road, 15-5 when Floyd faced the A.L. Central and 4-1 when he pitches against Detroit. The Tigers sport a bevy of “under” streaks, including 40-18 overall, 6-2 at home, 8-3 as a favorite, 15-6 as a home chalk, 4-0 on Saturday, 10-1 overall with Jackson on the mound and 5-0 when Jackson works against division opponents.
Finally, both games yesterday stayed low, making the under is 8-2 in the 10 clashes between these teams in 2009 and 43-20-4 in the last 67 battles in Motown.
Inside the lines 7/25
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