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"Oh, cool! The Giants are in town again!," said no one. Getting shellacked at home once every couple of months or so by San Francisco sure as hell isn't my idea of a good time, and most others would agree. After all, nobody liked the Giants waltzing in here and accusing the Rockies of cheating, and ruining everybody's lives in the process, in September of 2010. (Editor's note: nevermind the fact that those accusations may have been true, based on the Rockies' play at Coors Field over the last two seasons)
So, is there even a reason to watch this series? Well, let's examine it...
I can understand hating the piss out of the San Francisco Giants. I do it all the time. But, if you're a fan of baseball, you have to respect what Buster Posey has done as a terrific young catcher coming off of a gruesome injury. Posey is a super-legitimate MVP candidate, posting the line you see above while hitting 20 homers and possessing a park-adjusted OPS+ of 165. Those are terrific numbers, and they should be considered as even better due to the position he plays. He has also hit six of San Francisco's 22 home runs at AT&T Park this year, which is basically equivalent to, like, 45 home runs.
Now that we've covered Buster Posey as a reason to watch this series (if people can get past their sheer hatred of the Giants), I will give you three more (well, technically only one):
Hunter Pence has hit two home runs while in a Giants uniform, and one was an anger-inducing three-run shot off of Rafael Betancourt in San Francisco the last time these two teams met. He's also posted a .225/.289/.359 batting line since the trade and maneuvers like some sort of weird science experiment gone wrong, so naturally he'll hit seven home runs during the upcoming three-game series.
The last remaining reason to watch this series is that, if the Rockies decide to play well, they could have at least somewhat of an effect on the playoff race, and I'd love to see a sweep or similar result as a measure of payback for the Giants being dicks in the aforementioned 2010 situation.
For reasons NOT to watch the series, click past the jump, where you'll find the probable pitching matchups. You'll also be able to look at all of the Giants' statistically anomalies, as well as Brian Wilson's stupid name (among others) on the injury list.
Game 1 -- Monday at 6:40 p.m. MT
Ryan Vogelsong (12-7, 3.29 ERA) vs. Alex White (2-8, 5.31 ERA)
Game 2 -- Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. MT
Madison Bumgarner (14-10, 3.15) vs. Jhoulys Chacin (2-5, 4.50)
Game 3 -- Wednesday at 6:40 p.m. MT
Tim Lincecum (HAHA-HAHAHA, L.OL) vs. Jeff Francis (5-4, 5.38)
You know Lincecum is going to throw a shutout now. Why do I do this to myself?