San Francisco Giants Host Red Hot Pirates for Three Games
The month of May has come to an end, and the San Francisco Giants can’t be happy to see the calender turn. Despite losing the last two games in a four-game meeting with the Atlanta Braves, the Giants finished last month with a 21-9 record, the best in baseball, and their best win total in a month since 1968.
To finish up the current homestand, the Giants will host another team that is riding a heat wave. The Pittsburgh Pirates have won eight of their past 10, and nine out of 13, even after being shellacked by the San Diego Padres, 7-1, on Sunday. Their winning ways have put them over the .500 mark at 26-24. They sit seven games back of the first-place St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central, and one game behind the Chicago Cubs for second.
San Francisco climbed from the cellar in the NL West early in the year, and currently are just a half-game back of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division. The Giants were in first for one fleeting day after winning on Friday, as the Dodgers lost to the Cardinals. However, the Dodgers came back with a victory on Saturday, while the Giants fell to Atlanta. Both teams lost Sunday, so the deficit remains a slim half-game.
Pittsburgh is 11-15 on the road this season, but they’ve lost six of their past nine away from the beautiful PNC Park. At home, San Francisco is 16-11, and they’ve came away the victor in 15 of their last 20 home games.
Here are the starting pitcher matchups for the three-game swing.
Game 1: Ryan Vogelsong (4-2, 4.24 ERA) vs. Gerrit Cole (7-2, 2.11 ERA)
In a month that saw the Giants’ pitching staff throw eight shutouts, Vogelsong was, quietly, the most consistent starter in May. In five starts, Vogelsong was 4-0, and he allowed just four runs over the entire month. He cut his season ERA by more than five points, from 9.31 to 4.24 during those five outings. For a guy that was signed to be a swingman, he’s been a revelation.
Vogelong, who spent five seasons with Pittsburgh, is 2-3 against the Pirates in his career with a 3.38 ERA. Neil Walker is 7-16 (.439) off Vogelsong, but some of the Pirates’ big bats have struggled when facing him. Andrew McCutchen is 3-14 (.214), and Pedro Alvarez is 2-13 (.154).
Cole is the first of three very tough pitchers the Giants will face in this series. He has quickly developed into the front-line starter that he was projected to be. He is second in baseball with seven wins, and features a sparkling 2.11 ERA, 1.094 WHIP, and five strikeouts-per-walk ratio.
Cole has won both of his career starts facing the Giants, but has never pitched at AT&T Park. Nori Aoki is 2-5 (.400) with two walks, and Brandon Belt is 2-7 (.286) with a double and a home run versus Cole.
Game 2: Chris Heston (5-3, 3.82 ERA) vs. A.J. Burnett (5-1, 1.81 ERA)
After a couple of rough outings, Heston bounced back against the Braves, going 7.1 shutout innings, and allowing just four hits and a walk. He’s been much better at AT&T Park, as evidenced by his 2.16 ERA in five starts. On the road, his ERA is 5.79 in five starts.
Much like a lot of non-divisional opponents for a rookie, Heston has never faced the Pirates or anyone in their lineup.
Burnett is the rookie Heston’s polar opposite, as the 38-year-old is in his 17th major league season. So far this year, he’s pitched like he’s back in his prime, as he’s given up two runs or less in nine of his 10 starts. The lone exception came in his most recent outing against the Padres, where he allowed five runs.
Against the Giants, Burnett is 6-3 with a 2.04 ERA in 10 starts, but is just 2-3 with a 3.24 ERA at AT&T Park. Buster Posey is 3-7 (.429) against the gritty veteran, and Aoki is 5-13 (.385) with three doubles.
Game 3: Tim Hudson (3-4, 4.62 ERA) vs. Francisco Liriano (2-4, 3.47 ERA)
Hudson finished a fairly rough month with a strong outing against his former team, the Braves, as he beat them for the first time in his career. In seven innings, he allowed just five hits and a single run. Hudson, on the cusp of 40 years old, has been better at home, much like Heston. His ERA is a full run and a half lower than on the road, and he’s earned all three of his wins in front of the home crowd.
Hudson is 6-8 against the Pirates in 15 starts, with a 3.23 ERA. McCutchen is just 3-19 (.158) with Hudson on the mound. Another solid start against the Pirates could be a jump start as Hudson tries to get his season back on track.
Liriano, a former San Francisco farmhand, presents the third and final tough obstacle in this series. The lefty’s record isn’t great, but he’s pitched very well, and is averaging 11.3 strikeouts per nine innings and just 6.2 hits per nine, to go along with a 1.089 WHIP.
As a visitor in AT&T Park, Liriano is 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA, and 2-1 overall against the Giants. Posey is 5-9 (.556) off the southpaw, and Hunter Pence is 3-7 (.429) with a pair of doubles.
Notes:
Aoki went 0-3 with a sacrifice bunt on Sunday, but extended his streak of consecutive plate appearances without striking out to 84. Aoki now owns the lowest strikeout rate in baseball, at a miniscule 6.4 percent (14 strikeouts in 218 plate appearances). He surpassed the Cleveland Indians’ Michael Brantley (6.7%) over the weekend. Aoki struck out just three times in May, the latest coming on May 8th.
Hunter Strickland is making a very strong case to stay in the major leagues for good. In 7.1 innings, he’s allowed just one baserunner, a single to Wilin Rosario in his first appearance, to go with eight strikeouts. Manager Bruce Bochy has begun using Strickland in high leverage situations, as he pitched in the eighth inning twice against Atlanta over the weekend, both times with a slim lead.
McCutchen, the Pirates’ former National League MVP, is a great player, but he continues to prove that he’s an ever better person. His latest act came on Saturday, when after a game with the Padres in San Diego, he handed his batting gloves to a young Pirates’ fan in center field. The young man, decked out in Pirates’ gear, was quite visibly elated. In a time where more and more negative news regarding athletes is coming out, it’s nice to see things like this happening.
The Giants and the Pirates are both riding hot streaks, but something will have to give in this series. Two former MVP’s will attempt to lead their team to a series victory, which could go a long way towards deciding how the month of June will go.