San Francisco Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: Third Straight Series Win
3 DOWN
1 – Close Out The Series
For the second straight series, the Giants entered the finale with a chance at a sweep. For the second straight series, the Giants lost the finale. While taking a series win is definitely not a bad thing for a team that was trending in the wrong direction for a long time, a series sweep would have been just outstanding.
Clayton Kershaw was a buzzsaw on Wednesday, but they had their chances against Adam Wainwright on Sunday. They had two runners on in the second and fourth innings, but couldn’t crack the board either time. A third-inning double off Arroyo’s bat was the only run against Wainwright, and the Cards were able to come away with victory handily.
2 – Early Offense
Runs in the early innings were not easy to come by for the Giants in St. Louis. On Friday, they didn’t crack the scoreboard until the seventh inning. On Saturday, both teams waited until the 13th inning to erase the zeroes from the scoreboard. They got on the board a bit earlier on Sunday (the aforementioned Arroyo double), but weren’t able to add on. The other two runs they scored during the finale came in the eighth inning, when Brandon Crawford and Nunez left the yard for back-to-back solo shots.
3 – Matt Cain On The Road
The former Giants’ ace has been a nice story in the early going of the season, having thrown some beauties over the first two months. But two of his last three starts on the road have been absolute stinkers.
In Cincinnati on May 5th, Cain allowed nine runs over 3.1 innings during the team’s worst series of the year. On Sunday against the Cardinals, Cain gave up seven innings in 5.1 innings en route to taking his second loss of the season. And it’s not like Cain has been all bad during the month of May, either. In his last start before Sunday against the Dodgers, he held them to only one run on five hits in 6.2 innings and left to a huge standing ovation.
Cain’s road and home splits have been drastically different in the first two months. In four starts at AT&T Park, he owns a 1.19 ERA with a .220 opponent average. In five starts away, both those total skyrocket up to 8.28 and .320, respectively.
Next: Kyle Crick Back on the Radar
The Giants will try to win their fourth straight series, and continue to improve their road record. On Monday, they begin a four-game set with the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs, who are 22-20 on the season.