San Francisco Giants vs. Colorado Rockies

The San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies don’t have one of the more famous rivalries in professional sports, but it is a rivalry that continues to grow and get better each season. The San Francisco Giants have been around for over 100 years longer than the Colorado Rockies, and have obviously been much more successful.

The Giants and Rockies both compete in the National League West Division and they have had some periods of dominance in the past few seasons. San Francisco and Colorado are two extremely different cities, but both are terrific baseball towns that love their baseball teams. Both the Giants and Rockies have bigger rivals inside of baseball, but there is no denying that these two teams enjoy beating each other.

History of Giants vs. Rockies Rivalry

The Giants and Rockies have only been competing against each other for less than 30 years, with the first matchups coming in 1993. The Giants were not very kind to their new rivals in the first two seasons, winning 17 of the first 23 matchups in this rivalry. San Francisco has really controlled this rivalry from the very beginning, posting a better head-to-head record against the Rockies in all three of the decades that they have been playing. The Giants hold a 234-199 lead in the all-time series and the two teams have yet to square off in the Major League Baseball playoffs.

The Giants have been dominant at home, posting a 140-78 record against the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies have had more luck in Colorado, posting a 121-94 record at Coors Field. Since the Rockies came into the league in 1993, the Giants have been one of the best and most consistent teams in the National League, while the Rockies are still looking for their first World Series victory. Odds are that the Rockies will eventually be able to break through to win a World Series, but they will have to go through the Giants to get it done.

The San Francisco Giants got their start as the New York Gothams all the way back in 1883. The team was renamed the Giants in 1886, and was eventually moved to San Francisco in 1958. The Giants franchise is the winningest in the history of American baseball.

The Giants have played in a National League record 20 World Series and have won a total of 23 National League pennants. The Giants were the first professional baseball team in New York City, and they played in the “Fall Classic” a total of 14 times while being based in New York City. Willie Mays and Willie McCovey are two of the most famous Giants players of all-time and are both enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

The Colorado Rockies became division rivals of the San Francisco Giants when they were placed in the National League West Division in 1993. The Rockies have made more than a handful of playoff appearances in team history, but remain one of two teams that have never won a division title.

Colorado is known for the Rocky Mountains and Denver is known as the “Mile High City.” Because of the elevation and altitude, the Rockies have trouble putting together a solid pitching staff, but their games are usually high scoring affairs at Coors Field. The Rockies won the National League pennant in 2007, but were quickly swept out of the World Series by the Boston Red Sox. The Rockies are still a relatively new team in the Major Leagues, but they have stood up to legendary teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.

Head to Head Comparison of San Francisco Giants vs. Colorado Rockies

There really is no comparison between the postseason success of the San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies. The Giants have won the National League pennant a total of 23 times in franchise history, and have eight World Series titles to their credit. Colorado won their only National League pennant in 2007, and have yet to win the World Series. The Giants have eight National League West Division titles, while the Rockies are still looking for their first one. Colorado has done a nice job of establishing a winning culture for their team, but they have a long ways to go if they are going to catch the Giants.

Quick Glance at Last 20 Games Between Giants and Rockies

The San Francisco Giants might have a commanding lead in the all-time series standings, but that hasn’t been the case in the last 20 games of this rivalry. The Giants and Rockies played a total of 19 times during the 2018 regular season, and their final matchup in 2017 took place on September 20. The Colorado Rockies had the better of the San Francisco Giants during this stretch, posting a 12-8 record against their West Division rivals.

Colorado won seven straight games during the 2018 season including back to back three game series sweeps at home in Coors Field. In the nine games that were played at Coors Field, the Rockies were able to win eight of those games to take control of this rivalry. The Giants did have the edge in games played in San Francisco, posting a 7-4 record against the Rockies at home in the last 20 games. With home teams winning 15 of the last 20 games in this rivalry, that is a pretty big trend to keep an eye on moving forward.

Even though the Colorado Rockies were clearly the better team in this rivalry through the last 20 games, there have actually been reasons to pick the San Francisco Giants. The Rockies have been the betting favorites in 14 of the last 20 games of this rivalry, but they managed to go just 4-10 against the spread as the favorites. In the six games that the Giants were the betting favorite, San Francisco managed to go just 1-5 against the spread.

For whatever reason, the team that has been labeled as the underdog has been the right team to pick in 15 of the last 20 games in this rivalry. We also need to look at the run totals for each of the last 20 games to try and get a feel for how the offenses perform when these two teams meet on the field. The San Francisco Giants and Colorado Rockies have combined to go “over” the run total in just six of the last 20 games. The Giants and Rockies have combined to go “under” the projected run total in 12 of the last 20 games, while the two teams have played to a “push” in the other two matchups. Things can obviously change moving forward, but betting the underdog and betting the “under” look like the right plays in this rivalry.