Adrian Houser (2-4, 5.30) gets the ball for the Giants opposite Ryan Feltner (1-1, 6.30), who's making his first big-league start since April 23 after working back from right ulnar nerve inflammation. First pitch is 9:10 PM ET / 7:10 PM MT at Coors, and the books have San Francisco a clear favorite on the moneyline with the total at 10.5.
Houser's last outing was a 79-pitch, 4.2-inning no-decision against the White Sox where he gave up 3 earned and punched out 5. Fine, not sharp. Now he gets the altitude, a quick hook risk, and a Rockies lineup that just hung 8 on the Giants the night before. Feltner, meanwhile, is a question mark by definition — his last MLB start was 2 innings, 40 pitches, back in April. Whatever pitch limit Bud Black has him on, you can pencil in the Colorado bullpen for the back half.
Neither of these teams is good. The Giants are 22-35 and have lost 4 of 5, the Rockies are 21-37 and just snapped a 4-game skid by walking it off — sort of — with a 5-run 9th sparked by Tovar and Goodman homers. McCovey Chronicles literally called this a 'battle for 4th place' series preview, which sums up the vibes. But baseball at altitude has its own gravity, and the Giants leaving Denver without splitting this set would be a problem.
- 10-Day-ILHeliot Ramos LF — Ramos received a PRP injection in his injured right quadriceps and will be shut down for one week, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
- 15-Day-ILTyler Mahle SP — The Giants placed Mahle on the 15-day injured list Friday, retroactive to Wednesday, due to a left hamstring strain, Justice delos Santos of The San Jose Mercury News reports.
- 60-Day-ILReiver Sanmartin RP — Sanmartin (hip) tossed a scoreless inning in Triple-A Sacramento's 11-6 win over Sugar Land on Tuesday.
- 60-Day-ILJason Foley RP — Foley (shoulder) earned a hold in Triple-A Sacramento's 6-5 loss to Round Rock on Wednesday, allowing one hit in a scoreless inning.
- 60-Day-ILJared Oliva CF — The Giants transferred Oliva (wrist) from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Wednesday.
- 60-Day-ILRowan Wick RP — The Giants placed Wick (elbow) on the 60-day injured list Sunday, Justice delos Santos of The San Jose Mercury News reports.
- 60-Day-ILHayden Birdsong RP — Birdsong underwent successful UCL reconstruction surgery on his right elbow Wednesday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
- 60-Day-ILRandy Rodriguez RP — The Giants placed Rodriguez (elbow) on the 60-day injured list Tuesday, Justice delos Santos of The San Jose Mercury News reports.
- Day-To-DayBrayan Castillo RP — The Rockies announced Monday that Castillo is dealing with right lat tightness and has been shut down from throwing while undergoing treatment for the injury, TheDNVR.com reports.
- Day-To-DayCase Williams SP — Williams is currently slowed by a stress reaction in his right triceps, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.
- Day-To-DayJared Thomas CF — The Rockies announced Monday that Thomas hasn't been participating in spring training while he recovers from offseason surgery to address a fractured hamate bone in his right wrist, TheDNVR.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILMickey Moniak LF — Moniak is not in the starting lineup Thursday night against Arizona.
- 10-Day-ILBrenton Doyle CF — The Rockies announced that Doyle is considered day-to-day after suffering a left oblique contusion during Tuesday's 10-0 loss to the Rangers, Manny Randhawa of MLB.com reports.
- 10-Day-ILJordan Beck LF — Beck went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI on Saturday against Atlanta.
- 15-Day-ILRyan Feltner SP — Feltner (elbow) struck out five and allowed one earned run on six hits and one walk across five innings Sunday in a rehab start for Triple-A Albuquerque.
- 15-Day-ILChase Dollander SP — Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said Wednesday that Dollander (elbow) will be shut down from throwing for the next 2-to-3 weeks, MLB.com reports.
The injury sheets are doing a lot of heavy lifting in this matchup. San Francisco just lost Tyler Mahle to a hamstring strain (15-day IL, retro to Wednesday) on top of a bullpen that's already missing Randy Rodriguez, Hayden Birdsong, Rowan Wick, Jason Foley, and Reiver Sanmartin. That is not a list, that is a roster page. Colorado, for its part, is still without Kris Bryant, Brenton Doyle, Jordan Beck, Mickey Moniak, Jose Quintana, and Chase Dollander — basically half the lineup card and a chunk of the rotation.
The bet market sees a Giants edge — Pinnacle has San Francisco at -141, with DK juicing it to -154 — but the EV grades are negative across the board, which is the polite way of saying there's no obvious value here. If you're playing it, the Houser/Coors combo plus a Feltner return tilts the total angle more than the side. Either way, the Giants need to stop bleeding late innings before this thing gets ugly.