The Rockies used a late-game offensive explosion to defeat the Cubs, 9-5, on Sunday, but now they host the 2010 World Series champions, the San Francisco Giants. But for now, the Colorado Rockies are ahead of the Giants in the NL West standings.
Monday's game features a Tim Lincecum-Esmil Rogers start, which is a bit of a letdown. Well, a letdown when one recalls that Ubaldo Jimenez was originally scheduled to pitch the first game of this series. A Jimenez-Lincecum matchup would have brought up reminders of their May 31, 2010, duel in San Francisco on Memorial Day. That was when Jimenez threw a complete game shutout for the Rockies in a 4-0 win. Jimenez threw "The Best Pitch Ever" that game.
Instead, Rockies manager Jim Tracy elected to move Jimenez to Tuesday and have Esmil Rogers start on Monday. Had he not been moved to Monday, Rogers would have had nine days off between starts.
The Giants enter this series having won four of their last six games (two wins each against the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks). On Sunday, the Giants dropped a 6-5 decision to the Diamondbacks i 12 innings. Dan Runzler walked two batters before he exited the game. Javier Lopez entered and allowed the game-winning single to Stephen Drew.
The Rockies will need to be wary of catcher Buster Posey (.296 BA, .840 OPS) and the revived Pablo Sandoval (.340 BA, .971 OPS, 4 HR). Aubrey Huff is finding plenty of opportunities to drive runs in, tied for second with 10. Four of Pat Burrell's eight hits are home runs.
Offensively, the Rockies will look for Troy Tulowitzki to continue his hot hitting. After going 10-for-16 with four home runs and eight RBI against the Mets, Tulowitzki collected four hits (one triple) against the Cubs. Will he hit home run No. 100 this series.
Here are the pitching matchups:
Monday, April 18, 8:40 p.m. MT
Tuesday, April 19, 8:40 p.m. MT
Wednesday, April 20, 3:10 p.m. MT