The Colorado Rockies have a chance to move out of sole possession of last place in the National League West when they seek a second consecutive road victory over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday afternoon.
A season-high-tying fourth straight win would move the Rockies into a tie with the Giants, the team they leap-frogged with a win on June 2 that pushed Colorado into fourth place in the NL West.
The Rockies lost the next day to the Los Angeles Angels while the Giants won in Milwaukee, vaulting San Francisco back into fourth place.
Colorado has scheduled right-hander Michael Lorenzen (3-10, 6.83 ERA) for the rematch of the Rockies’ 5-2 win in Friday’s series opener.
Lorenzen will take the mound with almost an identical season record as Kyle Freeland, who was 3-10 with a 6.63 ERA before he limited the hosts to one run on four hits over eight innings on Friday.
Lorenzen, 34, has never beaten the Giants, going 0-2 with a 6.05 ERA over 13 appearances (seven starts). He will face a Giants team that has just 11 runs on 35 hits over its last six games, five of which have been losses.
Giants manager Tony Vitello noted two areas other than hitting that held his team back in Friday’s defeat.
“We need to get better in a lot of different areas,” Vitello said. “The one thing we have to do is throw strikes. You can say this guy hit a home run and this guy didn’t get a hit with a runner in scoring position, but we walked seven and they walked one.
“… (And) we can’t throw the ball (from the outfield) to the wrong base, especially when we have a team meeting about it before the game. Can’t do it anyway, but especially on a day when we literally have a meeting about it.”
Giants right-hander Logan Webb (7-7, 3.59 ERA), Saturday’s scheduled starter, was the victim of a lack of offensive support in his last outing. He did not record a decision in a 3-1 loss in 10 innings to the Detroit Tigers last Sunday despite limiting the visitors to one run on four hits in eight frames.
Webb, 29, has gone 11-4 with a 3.39 ERA in 21 career games (20 starts) against Colorado. He has never faced Rockies recent call-up Zac Veen, who became just the second Giants opponent this season to launch a home run into the San Francisco Bay in Friday’s win.
Veen batted just .118 in 12 games in his big-league debut last April. Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said he’s already seeing a different player in two starts over the past three days.
“The last time he was up here, I think the nerves took over,” Vitello told reporters earlier this week. “I just want him to have fun. I want him to have fun and be himself, because that’s the only way he’s going to show what he can do.”
Veen has two hits — both homers — in six at-bats since his promotion from Triple-A Albuquerque.
–Field Level Media
