San Francisco Giants Face First Non-Division Opponent in Angels
The San Francisco Giants started the season with 22 consecutive divisional games. It should have been 23, but thanks, Mother Nature! Now, the Giants head home to take on their first non-divisional opponent, and first interleague adversary, the Los Angeles Angels. The three-game set with the Angels kicks off a 10-game homestand.
The Giants own a 9-13 record after losing two out of three to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. They still sit in the cellar of the NL West, trailing those first-place Dodgers by 4.5 games. Since going through an eight-game losing streak, the Giants are 6-4. Overall, they’re 4-6 at AT&T Park.
The Angels are 10-11, and tied for second in the AL West behind the boiling-hot Houston Astros. The crowd at AT&T will get their first look at the American League’s reigning MVP, Mike Trout. Trout is off to another great start, hitting .329 with five home runs, 14 RBI, and a .447 on-base percentage.
The Angels could be without Albert Pujols for this series, as he is dealing with hamstring issues, leaving Wednesday’s game against the Oakland Athletics. Manager Mike Scioscia has said the injury is “not serious”, but he will miss “at least a couple of games”.
Here are the pitching matchups for the three-game weekend swing.
Game 1: Chris Heston (2-2, 2.77 ERA) vs. C.J. Wilson (1-2, 3.12 ERA)
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Giants’ rookie Heston is off to a great start, but got a rude welcome to Coors Field. In his most recent outing against the Colorado Rockies, he surrendered six runs in 5.1 innings. He entered the game with a 0.87 ERA, having given up two earned runs (five total) in 20.2 innings.
Heston has never faced the Angels, and in turn, has never faced an Angels’ hitter, but he seems to love pitching in the friendly confines of AT&T Park. In 14.2 innings in San Francisco, Heston has allowed just two earned runs, and has a 1.023 WHIP.
Wilson enters this contest having faced the Giants just once in the regular season, but he did earn the win, going 6.1 innings and giving up three runs back in 2012.
Wilson has faced the Giants once in the postseason, as he took the mound in the 2010 World Series for the Texas Rangers. He allowed just two runs in six innings, but took the loss. Buster Posey is the only remaining hitter from that series, and he went 0-3 with two strikeouts.
Obviously, not a lot of hitters have experience against Wilson, but Nori Aoki is 3-5 with a double and a walk, as they squared off in the American League last year.
Game 2: Tim Hudson (0-2, 3.91 ERA) vs. Hector Santiago (2-1, 2.28 ERA)
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Hudson pitched well enough to win in his first two starts of the year, but the run support wasn’t there. The last couple of games haven’t been so kind, as he has allowed eight runs in 12 innings.
Hudson has not had a lot of experience against Angels’ hitters (notice a pattern?), but one guy he has faced a lot is Pujols. The former MVP is 14-32 (.438) with three home runs and seven RBI against Hudson. As it looks now, Hudson will avoid facing Pujols.
Against the Angels, mostly from his days with the Athletics, Hudson is 13-7 with a 3.85 ERA.
Santiago has been the Angels’ best pitcher thus far, as shown by his 2.28 ERA. In his young career, he owns a 16-20 record with a 3.45 ERA.
Justin Maxwell and Casey McGehee are the only hitters with experience against Santiago, but they are a combined 0-3 with a walk.
Game 3: Tim Lincecum (1-2, 3.27 ERA) vs. Jered Weaver (0-3, 5.83 ERA)
Lincecum was great in his first three starts, posting a 2.00 ERA over 18 innings. His last outing, at Coors Field, was not pretty. He allowed four runs on eight hits and three walks in just four innings, and seemingly everything was hit hard. Lincecum will look to get back to the form he showed in the earlier starts.
He’s faced the Angels just once in his career, giving up three runs in eight innings and taking the loss back in 2009.
Angels’ catcher Chris Iannetta has had success against Lincecum in the past, going 6-15 (.400) with two doubles, a home run, four RBI, and eight walks. That gives him a .640 OBP against Lincecum.
Weaver has struggled in the early goings of the season, giving up six home runs in 29.1 innings, the most in the American League. If not for Ryan Vogelsong‘s eight home runs allowed, and Brandon McCarthy’s nine, he’d lead all of baseball.
Weaver has pitched against San Francisco just once, in 2012, and shut out the Giants in six innings, earning the win.
Posey and Angel Pagan are each 0-2 against Weaver, but Aoki is 1-3, and Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford are each 1-2.
Belt has heated up in recent weeks. He has 10 hits in his last 21 at-bats, and six walks. That includes two days off (he got one AB in a pinch-hitting role in each game) and an 0-4 against Clayton Kershaw, who completely dominates Belt. On the bad side, nine of the 11 outs Belt has recorded are strikeouts, including four backwards K’s.
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Aoki has done his job as the leadoff hitter so far this year, as he leads the team with a .396 OBP. He works counts better than just about anyone the Giants have had in recent memory, and has walked (12) more than he’s struck out (11).
Posey has also started to have better swings, as he is six for his last 16 with a home run and three RBI. He’s begun to use the middle of the field more, which is a good sign for the team. That’s usually where he feasts.
The Giants have a surprise leader in some key offensive categories. Crawford is leading the team with four home runs and 11 RBI, and has seven total extra-base hits. Even though he’s hitting just .235, he is driving the ball very well.
One thing that may be fun to watch in this series is American League pitchers hitting. Wilson is 2-23 (.087) in his career, Santiago is 1-8 (.125), and Weaver is 4-34 (.118).
The Giants have turned it around, somewhat, as they have a winning record in their past 10 games. They have faced some tough pitchers (Zack Greinke is still undefeated against San Francisco), but they have beaten Kershaw twice in that span. Beating the best pitcher in the game has to inspire some confidence, and they need that to carry into this series with the Angels.