Ryan Feltner and Blake Snell, two pitchers who haven’t recorded a win in their past 28 combined starts, are scheduled to go head-to-head on Saturday when the San Francisco Giants host the Colorado Rockies for a day/night doubleheader.
The Giants took a big first step toward avenging a series loss at Colorado last week with an 11-4 shellacking on Friday night, riding a combined six hits — including three homers — seven runs and seven RBIs from Jorge Soler and Tyler Fitzgerald.
Colorado has scheduled right-hander Feltner (1-10, 5.19 ERA) for Saturday’s opener. He hasn’t won since April 12 at Toronto, a 17-game winless streak as a starter that is tied for the major league lead with Aaron Civale of the Milwaukee Brewers and Chad Kuhl, currently with the Chicago White Sox.
Feltner pitched well in a 3-2 defeat at home against the Giants last Sunday, allowing just three runs (two earned) over seven innings. Feltner also suffered a 10-5 loss in San Francisco on May 17. The 27-year-old has gone 0-3 with a 5.09 ERA in four career starts against the Giants.
Despite Friday’s setback, the Rockies have won five of their past eight, including taking home series over the Giants and Red Sox in the past week.
“There’s been a couple of times throughout this year where we felt like we had a good roll going,” Feltner said. “I think this is one of those times.”
The Giants are expected to counter in the opener with left-hander Snell (0-3, 5.83), whose run of 11 straight starts without a win dates back to last Sept. 13 for the San Diego Padres.
Returning from a second stint on the injured list this season, Snell easily could be 3-0 in July, having allowed just two runs and six hits over 18 innings. The Giants won two of the three games, but he didn’t get a decision in any.
The 31-year-old has made it clear during his hard-luck July that it starts with his performance.
“Anytime I take the ball, I expect that we should win, so I’ve got to be better,” Snell said. “We need wins.”
Snell is 3-2 with a 3.60 ERA in 12 career starts against the Rockies.
The Giants have announced rookie right-hander Hayden Birdsong (2-0, 3.55) as their starter for the doubleheader nightcap. In his only meeting with the Rockies, the 22-year-old dominated the hosts with a career-best 12 strikeouts in six innings in a head-to-head with Feltner last Sunday as he took the victory.
The Rockies are expected to treat the nightcap as a bullpen game. They used three relievers for a total of four generally ineffective innings in Friday’s loss.
The doubleheader was one of just two on the original Major League Baseball schedule this season, joining a Texas Rangers-Oakland Athletics twin bill on the other side of the San Francisco Bay in May. Several others have been added to the slate because of rainouts, including a Seattle-Colorado split in Denver in April.
Coincidentally, the last time the Giants played a doubleheader was against Colorado, last September in Denver, because of an earlier rainout. The Rockies swept the pair 9-5 and 5-2.
–Field Level Media
