Photo credit: mccoveychronicles.com

By Jeremy Harness

Right now, the Giants are playing like they can’t wait for the season to be over.

After being in contention for much of the season, they have now lost 11 straight games and are sinking deeper into the abyss of the major leagues. Instead of playing spoiler, other teams seem to be able to look at the Giants as a way to pick up a few easy wins and keep their playoff hopes alive.

The next team to hope to use the Giants to fatten their records is the Colorado Rockies, who make their way to AT&T Park for a three-game weekend series that starts Friday night.

The Rockies are 1 ½ games in front of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the National League West lead, and they swept the Giants at Coors Field in a three-game series just last week, and they hope to do the same this weekend.

Righty Chris Stratton will take the ball Friday night opposite Colorado left-hander Tyler Anderson (6-8, 4.89 ERA).

Anderson, however, has fallen on hard times on the mound lately. After a promising start to the season, Anderson has lost each of his last five decisions, including his last outing against the Dodgers that saw him go only 2 2/3 innings and surrender three runs on five hits.

Stratton has not been much better. He has dropped five of his past six decisions, and his last outing saw him go five innings and give up four runs on four hits in a loss at Milwaukee.

Colorado righty German Marquez (12-9, 3.94 ERA) will go Saturday afternoon against Giants lefty Madison Bumgarner
Marquez has been a workhorse for the Rockies, as he has gone at least seven innings in seven of his past nine outings, including a 13-2 win over Arizona in his last outing on Monday. The 23-year-old has won four of his last five outings.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Dereck Rodriguez (6-3, 2.35 ERA) will take the hill against Colorado righty Antonio Senzatela (4-6, 5.01 ERA) to close out the series.