San Francisco Giants Welcome Marlins, and an Old Friend, to AT&T Park
The San Francisco Giants have finally gotten back to .500, and for one short day, above the even mark. Even after an awful loss in the series finale to the San Diego Padres, the Giants are still 11-5 since their eight-game losing streak was snapped. This next series for the Giants, facing the Miami Marlins, will be the first series they have begun at or above .500 since the second series of the year.
Miami becomes the Giants’ second non-division opponent, and they’ll look to build off the sweep they pulled against the Los Angeles Angels. This four-game series will bring a 10-game homestand to conclusion, and San Francisco is guaranteed to finish the stand at at least .500.
This series will be a reunion for two players, one on each side. Michael Morse is returning to San Francisco, where he spent 2014 and helped the team to a World Series championship, his first as a player, becoming a huge fan favorite in the process. He will receive his ring before the series opener on Thursday.
Casey McGehee will face the team he also spent 2014 with, where he was a key piece to helping the Marlins improve by 15 wins over 2013. He led the team in hits, was second in average, and third in RBI.
Both players are in very similar situations. Each player is with their hometown team, and has struggled to start 2014, as Morse is hitting .193, and McGehee is hitting .181. Both are losing at-bats to younger players, as Justin Bour is hitting .500 for Miami, and Matt Duffy has come through time and time again for the Giants. Now, each player is playing against their 2014 team. Maybe a reunion will be enough to get each player going.
Here are the pitching matchups.
Game 1: Tim Hudson (1-2, 3.78 ERA) vs. Dan Haren (3-1, 2.70 ERA)
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Hudson pitched a beauty in his last outing against the Angels, becoming the first Giants’ starter to pitch into the ninth inning this season. He didn’t record an out in the frame, but still went eight-plus innings, and gave up just two hits (two solo home runs).
Hudson has had the Marlins’ number his entire career, as he is 15-4 with a 2.87 ERA, mostly from his days in the NL East with the Atlanta Braves. Marlins’ slugger Giancarlo Stanton hasn’t figured out Hudson yet, going 3-18 (.167) in his career.
Despite being adament about not wanting to pitch on the east coast, Haren has been very good so far for the Marlins. He’s allowed two earned runs or less in four out of his five starts.
Haren’s done well against San Francisco, going 6-6 with a 2.94 ERA in 18 games (17 starts). His luck hasn’t been so good at AT&T Park, as he’s 2-4 with a 3.74 ERA in 10 games (nine starts). Angel Pagan is 5-8 (.625) with a double, triple, and home run versus Haren.
Game 2: Tim Lincecum (2-2, 2.40 ERA) vs. Jarred Cosart (1-2, 2.97 ERA)
Lincecum has become more of a pitcher this season, relying much more on his defense. His current six strikeouts per nine innings rate is the lowest of his career. His WHIP is 1.233, as low as it’s been since 2011.
At AT&T this year, Lincecum is 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA, working well within the spacious confines of his home park. He is 2-3 with a 3.83 ERA against the Marlins, and Martin Prado has been a thorn in his side. He’s 10-30 (.333) with four doubles and five RBI against Lincecum.
Cosart, a former top prospect with the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros, is developing into a very good young pitcher for the Marlins at just 24 years old. He has never faced San Francisco before, and as a result, the players with experience against him is very limited. McGehee is 1-3, and Nori Aoki is 0-2 with a walk against Cosart.
Game 3: Madison Bumgarner (3-1, 3.03 ERA) vs. David Phelps (1-0, 3.24 ERA)
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After a slow start, Bumgarner has turned it up a notch in his last two starts. Over that pair of starts, he’s allowed just seven hits and one run in 15.1 innings, with 15 strikeouts. He hasn’t had much success against Miami in the past, going 1-2 with a 4.34 ERA.
Bumgarner will need to be very careful with Stanton. The Marlins’ masher is 8-13 (.615) with five doubles and a home run against Bumgarner.
Since coming to the Marlins in a trade with the New York Yankees, Phelps has been pretty solid. He started the year in the bullpen, but since moving into the rotation, he’s allowed just five runs in 24 innings. Like Cosart, he’s never pitched against the Giants, and Aoki (1-4) is the only hitter to face him in the past.
Game 4: Ryan Vogelsong (1-2, 6.84 ERA) vs. Mat Latos (1-3, 5.60 ERA)
Vogelsong earned himself another start with a fantastic outing against the Padres, shutting them out in seven innings to earn his first win. His curveball was noticeably better, and his fastball command was miles ahead of his previous start.
In two starts at AT&T Park this year, Vogelsong has allowed six hits and two runs (two solo home runs) in 13 innings. He is 3-3 with a 1.99 ERA in nine games (five starts) against the Marlins.
Dee Gordon, who faced the Giants a lot when he was a member of the Dodgers, is 10-29 (.345) against Vogelsong. Stanton is 4-12 (.333), but all of his hits are for extra bases (two doubles, two home runs).
Latos started the year with an awful bang, giving up seven runs in two-thirds of an inning (94.50 ERA). Since then, he’s improved, posting a 3.38 ERA in 26.2 innings. He’s 4-3 with a 2.19 ERA against the Giants in the regular season.
Buster Posey has one regular season home run against Latos, plus this postseason grand slam. Ahhhhh, the memories. Aoki is 5-19 against the tattooed righty, but two of those hits have left the park. Latos is one of two pitchers in baseball to allow multiple home runs to Aoki (Jhoulys Chacin has given up three). Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt are each 3-9 with Latos on the mound.
Since his red hot start, Aoki has cooled off considerably. He hit his first home run in orange and black on Sunday against Jered Weaver, but since then, he is 2-15, dropping his average to .289.
Belt, on the other hand, has been red hot. Over his past 13 games, he’s hitting .394 with six of his seven extra-base hits. In that same span, his BABIP (batting average on balls in play) is an astronomical .591. He’s raised his slugging percentage from .250 to .318 in the past four games.
Stanton got off to a slow start to the year for Miami, as he hit just .130 in the first seven games of the campaign. But since, he’s batting .296 with seven home runs and 24 RBI. His 27 total RBI leads all of baseball.
With a record back at .500, the Giants will look to pull out a series win to push their record over the even mark. They currently sit a game behind the Padres for the second in the West, and 3.5 back from the Dodgers. Miami is 5-8 on the road, and the Giants are 9-7 at home, including 8-1 over the past nine. This seems like a prime series for the Giants to make a run at the top of the division.