Colorado @ San Francisco preview
Oracle Park
Last Meeting ( Mar 12, 2010 ) San Francisco 9, Colorado 2
The San Francisco Giants boast one of the top pitchers in the National League. Check that – make it two.
Tim Lincecum isn’t the only hurler who has dominated hitters over the first month of the season. Surprisingly, so has left-hander Barry Zito.
The pitcher who was a monumental bust during his first three seasons with the Giants has been spectacular and hopes to finish a strong April with another stellar performance when San Francisco hosts the Colorado Rockies in the opening game of a three-game series tonight.
Zito (3-0) hasn’t allowed a run in two of his four outings and has given up just 15 hits in 27 1/3 innings. He has a 1.32 earned-run average and opposing hitters are batting just .161 against him.
It’s been a remarkable turnaround from his last two Aprils. Last season, Zito was 0-2 with a 5.24 ERA after the season’s first month. In 2008, he was 0-6 with a 7.53 ERA entering May.
But this season, the 2002 American League Cy Young Award winner has regained the form that helped him land the seven-year, $126 million deal he received from the Giants when they lured him across the bay from Oakland after the 2006 season.
Zito’s last outing was the best of them all. He struck out 10 and allowed just three hits in eight scoreless innings while beating St. Louis.
Even while struggling the last three seasons, Zito has fared well against Colorado. He’s 4-2 in 11 starts against the Rockies with a 1.98 ERA. Zito has limited Colorado hitters to a .194 average.
Rockies cleanup hitter Troy Tulowitzki is among the players who have struggled against Zito. Tulowitzki is hitting just .172 in 29 at-bats against Zito.
Colorado has amassed 23 runs and 28 hits over its past two games but only won one of the contests. The Rockies lost to Arizona 12-11 in 10 innings on Wednesday, one day after they trounced the Diamondbacks 12-1.
Carlos Gonzalez was the hottest of the Rockies during the three-game series against Arizona, going 7-for-11 with two homers and nine RBIs. Gonzalez is hitting .355 with a team-leading 16 RBIs.
Tulowitzki is hitting .318 but has only one homer in 88 at-bats. He hit 32 last season.
Aaron Cook will start for Colorado as the Rockies open a nine-game road trip that also takes them to San Diego and Los Angeles. Cook (1-2) pitched a complete-game five-hitter in an 8-1 victory over Florida in last start.
But overall, Cook has struggled with a 5.01 ERA and hasn’t yet resembled the pitcher who went 27-15 over the past two seasons.
Cook has started 20 times against the Giants, compiling a 7-9 record and 4.87 ERA.
Infielder Juan Uribe is expected back in the San Francisco starting lineup tonight. Uribe is hitting .317 and leads the Giants with 11 RBIs. He hasn’t started since injuring his elbow on April 24.