Grounds crew members pick up covers from the field after the postponement of a baseball game between the Colorado Rockies and the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023, in Denver. The game has been rescheduled as part of a doubleheader Saturday. (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The San Francisco Giants (75-71) and the Colorado Rockies (53-92) four-game series was postponed Thursday evening due to inclement weather. The opening game of the series was postponed about three hours before the 5:40 scheduled first pitch.

A closer look at the weather channel showed 55 degrees that felt more like 52 degrees Thursday evening with rain pouring continuously since late afternoon. Just more crazy weather that seems to be world-wide.

A scheduled double-header will be played on Saturday September 16 with the first pitch at 11:20 AM. The second game of the double-header will take place Saturday evening at 5:10 PM.

As San Francisco heads into this series, they face a critical situation. Every game going forward is vitally important since the Giants are in the thick of an incredibly tight National League Wild Card race.

San Francisco has won 16 of their last 17 games against Colorado. A sweep would indeed be a beautiful thing. The Diamondbacks (76-72) , the Reds (76-72), the Cubs (78-69), the Marlins (75-72) and the Phillies (79-67) are all contenders in this closely contested race.

The Giants with a 75-71 record are close to the bottom of the heap in a packed field of rivals. Following this four game series with Colorado, San Francisco will play a two-game series with the Diamondbacks.

This will also be a huge series. Looking ahead, the Los Angeles Dodgers await the Giants in a four-game series starting on September 21. A series win or even a sweep for the Giants over the last-place Rockies is critical to San Francisco’s playoff hopes.

Friday night’s game which will hopefully be played is scheduled for 5:40 PM PT. The weather maps show rain stopping Friday morning in the early hours. There is a 40% chance of rain Friday but it does show clear at first pitch and hopefully it will hold for the duration of the ball game.

Logan Webb who was supposed to take the mound Thursday will start for the Giants on Friday night. He has a 10-12 win/loss record and a 3.40 ERA. There is good news for San Francisco. Michael Conforto will be back in the lineup after suffering a left hamstring strain giving the Giants outfield a boost.

Chase Anderson will start for the Rockies looking for his first win. He has a 0-5 win/loss record and a 6.49 ERA. The 35-year-old right-hander has really struggled this season.

The Giants Wilmer Flores has the hot bat right now for San Francisco. He has been on fire with a .288 batting average and 22 homers. Thairo Estrada and J.D. Davis have also been playing well. They are coming off an extra inning win over the Cleveland Guardians Wednesday night. Davis hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning to tie up that game with LaMonte Wade Jr. hitting a game -winning sacrifice fly.

The strength in the San Francisco lineup should propel them through this series. Friday night the Giants head into the final leg of the season with 16 games left. They will be facing the Dodgers seven times, the Padres three times and two against the Diamondbacks.

They have to at least win this upcoming series with the Rockies although a sweep would go a long way for these guys because they face some dangerous foes in their final five series. It will for sure be an exciting photo finish this year for the San Francisco Giants.