Defensive difference

This weekend, the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants face off at Coors Field in a crucial series that could decide the NL West. However, despite the ballpark, it might not be offensive firepower that decides these teams' fates.

Last week, I uncovered the secret to the Rockies' success at home: their ground ball pitching staff and fly ball offense gives them a decided home-field advantage in the thin Denver air. A month ago, I discussed how the Giants' outfield transformation would end up costing their extreme fly ball pitching staff. They've managed to avoid the issue by morphing into a ground ball staff over the past month, and it's kept them at the top of the NL West for the time being. Still, the Giants' season might rest on how Pat Burrell and Jose Guillen navigate the Coors Field outfield this weekend.

This wouldn't be the first time a team's fate rested on its defense. As the old baseball adage goes: "Pitching and defense win championships." There might be some truth to that -- in "Baseball Between the Numbers," Nate Silver and Dayn Perry found that defense had one of the highest correlations with playoff success, and they included a fielding metric in their "Secret Sauce" recipe for winning in the postseason.

To see the ratings for every MLB contender's defense, as well as an explanation of each team's defensive strengths and weaknesses, you must be an ESPN Insider.

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