The San Francisco Giants were scuffling coming into Colorado, but they hope they are starting to turn things around, beginning with a 5-0 win over the Rockies in the opener of a three-game series on Tuesday night.
The Giants will try for a second straight victory when the teams reconvene in Denver on Wednesday night.
San Francisco will send Jordan Hicks (2-1, 1.89 ERA) against Colorado’s Peter Lambert (2-1, 5.66) in a matchup of right-handers.
Hicks will make his eighth appearance against the Rockies and his first career start against them. He is 1-1 with a 4.70 ERA in his seven relief outings against Colorado, with four of those games coming at Coors Field, where he has both decisions.
Hicks signed with the Giants in the offseason with the goal of being in the rotation. He has proved he belongs with his team-leading ERA.
Hicks also will try to continue San Francisco’s domination against Colorado over the past few seasons. The Giants have won 24 of the last 33 games against the National League West rivals. Facing the Rockies might be what they need after getting swept in Philadelphia.
“It’s still early, but it’s time to start having a little bit more urgency,” said the Giants’ LaMonte Wade Jr., who had three walks on Tuesday night. “I feel like everybody’s working hard. Everybody wants to compete. I don’t think anybody’s not competing. We just need to translate it to the game, and it’s a hard thing to do. This is a hard game. It’s a long season, though. We’re in a little rut right now, but it can turn around just like that.”
Colorado is tied with the Chicago White Sox for the fewest wins (eight) in the majors. The Rockies have trailed in 34 of their 35 games this season and have yet to win consecutive games.
Two of the few bright spots have been the bats of Ryan McMahon and catcher Jacob Stallings, both of whom are hitting above .300. Stallings can give perspective to his new teammates from his two seasons in Miami.
“My first year, we lost a lot of close games, and then the next year, we won a lot of close games,” said Stallings, who played for the Marlins from 2022-23. “Sometimes all it takes is getting the confidence that we’re going to win. We’re fighting it right now.”
Colorado has been shut out six times this season and twice in the last three games. It gives the pitching staff little room for error, which means Lambert needs to improve on his past performances against San Francisco.
In five career appearances — four starts — against the Giants, he is 0-1 with a 6.95 ERA and struggled against them last season, his first full year since Tommy John surgery in 2020. Lambert had one start and one relief appearance against San Francisco in 2023, giving up nine runs over 6 1/3 innings.
Lambert struggled in his last outing, a 5-4 loss at Miami on Thursday in which he allowed four runs in 3 1/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
