Whereas the Colorado Rockies host the San Francisco Giants on Sunday afternoon, loads of consideration can be 1,800 miles away at Cooperstown, N.Y., the place franchise icon Todd Helton can be inducted into the Nationwide Baseball Corridor of Fame.
Helton is the primary participant to make the Corridor of Fame after enjoying his whole profession in Colorado, and his induction is a reminder of higher occasions for the Rockies. They’re struggling this season however have an opportunity for a collection sweep in opposition to Nationwide League West rival San Francisco.
The Giants will ship Hayden Birdsong (1-0, 3.72 ERA) to the mound in Denver whereas the Rockies are scheduled to counter with Ryan Feltner (1-9, 5.36) in a matchup of right-handers.
San Francisco has stumbled to begin the second half of the season, a pattern that has been a problem the previous three years. The Giants will depend on Birdsong, a rookie with 4 profession begins beneath his belt, to forestall them from dropping the primary three video games after the All-Star break.
Birdsong’s arrival was necessitated by accidents to the rotation, notably Robbie Ray and Blake Snell. Birdsong made his debut on June 26 in opposition to the Chicago Cubs and allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings.
He obtained his first main league win six days later after tossing 5 innings in opposition to the Atlanta Braves. Birdsong has but to pitch past 5 innings however has not allowed greater than two earned runs in his final three begins.
Birdsong, 22, has by no means confronted Colorado and might be headed again to the minors, however he has made an impression on supervisor Bob Melvin.
“He appears increasingly more snug each time he goes on the market,” Melvin stated. “He is pitched properly. There was a necessity for us. I’ve stated usually, he is solely had a few begins in Triple-A and he is come up right here and carried out fairly properly for us. We now have massive expectations for him down the highway. We’ll see the way it works out once we begin to get some guys again.”
Whereas Birdsong is making an attempt to do sufficient to remain within the majors, Feltner is hoping to finish a stretch of three months and not using a win. He earned the victory at Toronto on April 12 and is 0-8 with eight no-decisions since beating the Blue Jays. Feltner is coming off a tricky outing on the New York Mets on July 13 when he walked 5 batters in 3 2/3 innings.
Feltner has had begins that present he is near getting an elusive win and has tried to not get pissed off.
“That is a consequence factor that I strive to not pay an excessive amount of consideration to, however I positively hope it turns,” he stated.
A type of losses got here at San Francisco on Could 17 when the Giants touched him up for 5 runs on seven hits in 4 innings. It was his third profession begin in opposition to them, and he’s now 0-2 with a 6.19 ERA in these outings.
Feltner seemingly will not have catcher Elias Diaz behind the plate on Sunday. Diaz left Saturday’s recreation with proper calf tightness, and supervisor Bud Black stated postgame Diaz had a “little little bit of a calf pressure.”
–Discipline Stage Media