Know Your Foe #27: Struggling Giants begin 11-game road trip with 4-game series at Coors Field

Note: I know this was supposed to be posted prior to yesterday's game. Lay off!

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (40-38, 5.5 GB, 4th in NL West)

Last Series vs. Rockies: May 31-June 2, 2010 @ AT&T Park (L 1-2)

Following a disastrous road trip which saw the Giants drop six of seven to the Padres, D-Backs, and Athletics, the Giants returned home and promptly won five of six heading into their series against the Rockies. Colorado would put a stop to the Giants' streak of three consecutive home series wins, though, as the San Francisco offense was unable to get going until the third game of the series - by which point, the Rockies had already taken two games.

The Giants had their ace on the hill in the opening game, but unfortunately for them the NL's best pitcher in 2010, Ubaldo Jimenez, was opposite him. Lincecum had issues with control, allowing five walks in 5.2 innings, and gave up a couple of key hits, plus he didn't get any run support whatsoever in the 4-0 loss. The Giants only had four hits - three of which came off the bat of Pablo Sandoval. In Game 2, San Francisco got a nice effort from Barry Zito on the mound (7 IP, 4 H, R, 8 K), and they even gave themselves a few more opportunities to score as they double their hit output from the previous game. However, only one runner got into scoring position the entire game (via Aubrey Huff's double) as Jason Hammel kept them mostly off-balance, and the Giants were unable to bring him to the plate. Their lone run was scored on a solo homer by Andres Torres. The Rockies eventually topped the Giants 2-1 in extra innings. In the series finale, it looked as if the Giants' offense would disappear once again until the fifth and sixth innings, when all four of their runs would cross the plate. Matt Cain tossed eight dominant innings, allowing just four hits and a run (which came via a solo home run by Troy Tulowitzki) and while striking out five. Rookie Buster Posey had a couple of hits, and perennial-slumper Aaron Rowand had a big two-run double as the Giants avoided the sweep by winning 4-1.

Recent Series Results: lost 1-2 vs. Boston, lost 0-3 vs. Los Angeles (NL)

Jonathan Sanchez is the only Giants pitcher to win a game over the past couple of series (largely because of his own offensive performance), as San Francisco defeated Boston 5-4 behind multi-hit games from the pitcher Sanchez, Juan Uribe (who homered), Pablo Sandoval, and Buster Posey. However, the Red Sox took the next two and the Giants haven't won since (including a series-opening loss to Colorado).

Against the Dodgers, the Giants were outscored 16-6 and were held to two runs in each of the three games. Offensive futility is easily San Fran's biggest problem, as they've posted a collective .547 OPS since the start of the Boston series.

Thursday-Sunday: 4-game series @ Coors Field

Expected Pitching Matchups

Thursday, 1 July 2010 @ 6:40pm MT (ROCKIES 7, GIANTS 3)

Friday, 2 July 2010 @ 6:10pm MT

Saturday, 3 July 2010 @ 6:10pm MT

Sunday, 4 July 2010 @ 1:10pm MT

More after the jump...

Expected Lineup

Bench

Closer

Injuries