Colorado Rockies vs. San Francisco game discussion: Michael Lorenzen vs Trevor McDonald

So at last it’s come to this: the final game of the first half for the Colorado Rockies before the All-Star Break. They’ll take on the San Francisco Giants with the goal of salvaging a series tie in the Bay Area.

At this time last year, the Rockies were 22-74. They were well on their way to over 100 losses and mired in what would be a historically bad and miserable season that would kick off a long-awaited rebuild. The Rockies’ lone All-Star was breakout catcher Hunter Goodman.

Now the Rockies enter their final game with a record of 39-58–still bad, but nowhere near the historic levels of last season. They’re scuttling along with multiple other teams in the league with bad records. Still bad, but just “regular” bad. “Competitive” bad. A foundation is being built and the offense has been greatly improved upon. The lone All-Star is Hunter Goodman, but we can confidently say there were some snubs.

Right-handed veteran Michael Lorenzen will be starting for the Rockies and looking to end the first half with another quality start. After struggling immensely for most of the season, Lorenzen has found his footing somewhat. In five of his last six starts he’s gone at least five innings, something he had done in just half of his first 14 starts of the year. During this stretch he’s given up more than two earned runs just once.

Lorenzen pitched a six inning quality start in a win against the Los Angeles Dodgers his last time out. He gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks while striking out five batters.

On the bump for the Giants is rookie righty Trevor McDonald. McDonald made four appearances across the 2024 and 2025 seasons, but this is the first year he has been called upon by the Giants to perform significant work. In 12 starts the 25-year-old has a 5.46 ERA and 50 strikeouts over 59.1 innings of work. In his last start, McDonald gave up eight runs on 11 hits to the Toronto Blue Jays without tallying a strikeout and lasting only 2.1 innings.

McDonald has faced the Rockies just once before, but had great success in that lone outing. He pitched a seven inning quality start while giving up three earned runs and striking out what is still a career high 10 batters.

This season McDonald has done well to avoid barrels and induce groundouts. His primary pitch is a sinker that averages 93.6 MPH, and he backs it up with a slider, a cutter, and a changeup.

First Pitch: 2:05 p.m. MDT

TV: Rockies.TV

Radio: 850 AM/94.1 FM KOA Rockies Radio Network; KNRV 1150 AM (Spanish)

Giants SB Nation Site: McCovey Chronicles

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