Two teams that will be watching the playoffs on television again will go head-to-head in the final series of the regular season when the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants kick off a three-game set Friday night in California.
The Rockies (43-116), last in the National League West, will take the field assured of being baseball’s losingest team this season. Their 116 losses already are 13 more than the previous franchise record of 103, set two years ago.
Meanwhile, the Giants (78-81) retain a shot at third place in the NL West, but will need some help. They are currently in fourth, two games behind the third-place Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Rockies last qualified for the postseason in 2018. For the Giants, it was 2021.
The pride of establishing individual career highs and team statistical leadership remains at stake for players on both teams.
Among the Giants, all eyes will be on Willy Adames, who needs two homers to reach 30 for a second consecutive season and third time in the last four years. The first-year Giant hit three in the first seven games of September, but hasn’t added to his total in the past 14 games.
The 30-year-old said the odd dimensions and windy conditions of AT&T Park weighed on his mind early on as he took aim at ending a 20-year drought in which no Giants player has reached 30 homers in a season since Barry Bonds hit 45 in 2004. Adames’ 32 homers last year came for the Milwaukee Brewers.
“Just forgetting what people say about (how) the ball don’t fly here and stuff like that,” he told reporters recently about the key to his surge to 28 after beginning the year with just two homers combined in March and April. “It’s been working. Just continue to be myself.”
If history repeats itself, Adames could reach the milestone in the series opener. When he faced Rockies starter German Marquez (3-15, 6.49 ERA) in May, Adames belted home runs in his first two at-bats in a 9-3 home win.
Marquez hasn’t won since June 18 at Washington, going 0-7 with a 7.08 ERA in his past 10 starts. The 30-year-old right-hander has made 19 starts against the Giants in his career with a 5-11 record and 6.82 ERA.
Marquez is scheduled to be opposed by Giants right-hander Trevor McDonald (0-0, 3.38). He made his third big-league appearance and start last Sunday on the road against the Los Angeles Dodgers, limiting them to one run in six innings in a 3-1 win. He did not get a decision.
The 24-year-old has never faced Colorado.
If there’s one thing to be concerned about with the Rockies, it’s base stealing. Jordan Beck (19), Tyler Freeman (18) and Brenton Doyle (17) find themselves in a race for 2025 team honors.
Beck and Doyle combined to go 0-for-8 while Freeman sat out with a sore back when the Rockies lost 6-2 at Seattle on Thursday night.
Beck and Doyle might be competing for stolen bases, but they’ve learned how to coexist in a speedy Rockies outfield that often features Beck in left field, Doyle in center and Freeman in right.
“Early in the year, (Doyle and I) were getting in each other’s way,” Beck told reporters. “But we have a good system now. I’m just going to let him take pretty much anything.”
– Field Level Media