The Giants will open their first series of a 10-game road trip in Colorado on Wednesday after a 10-game homestand in which the Giants went 6-4.
Coors Field would seem like the perfect place for Barry Bonds to speed up his approach of Hank Aaron's all-time record, which Bonds is 10 home runs away from tying, but Colorado hasn't been the home run hotbed that it once was.
Last year, 168 home runs were hit at Coors Field, and two of those were hit by Bonds. Considering the high altitude, 168 home runs is a pretty average number. That's one more home run than PETCO Park saw and two more than at Dodger Stadium. Baseball announcers, including Jon Miller, have speculated that it's an increase in humidity that's causing a decrease in Coors Field hits.
Whatever the reason, Thursday's starting pitchers can take comfort in the fact that balls aren't flying like they used to at Coors Field.
Not that Giants starting pitcher Noah Lowry needs any help from humidity. The left-hander is carrying four consecutive victories into Thursday's start. In his last start at Coors Field on April 30, Lowry picked up the win while allowing three earned runs on six hits in five innings.
But Lowry hasn't always seen success in Colorado. Last year, he held an 11.03 ERA at Coors Field in five games.
After the four-game series in Colorado, the Giants will stop off in Houston before capping off the road trip with a three-game series in Oakland. The Giants are playing the next 20 of 26 games on the road.
Pitching matchup
SF: LHP Noah Lowry (4-2, 3.29 ERA)
Lowry is coming off the best start of his season. The lefty was hitting all of his pitches well in his last start against the Phillies and recorded a Giants season high of eight strikeouts. Lowry allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits in 6 2/3 innings.
COL: RHP Aaron Cook (1-1, 4.37)
Cook entered his last start, Saturday at Cincinnati, with the second-lowest ERA for a winless pitcher. He struggled, yielding five runs in 5 1/3 innings, but still earned his first victory. Cook has yielded 10 runs in his last 11 2/3 innings, but the Rockies have won both contests.
Player to watch
Bonds is fast approaching Aaron's record, and Cook has given up a homer to Bonds before. Bonds is 11-for-23 against Cook with a .696 slugging percentage.