San Francisco @ San Diego preview
Petco Park
Last Meeting ( Apr 20, 2010 ) San Francisco 0, San Diego 1
The offensive production that helped fuel the San Francisco Giants' hot start has gone dormant. Scoring runs has suddenly become a major issue.
The Giants were blanked by the San Diego Padres on Tuesday and have scored just three runs over their last three games. San Diego starter Mat Latos limited San Francisco to four hits over seven innings. Overall, the Giants had six hits.
Prior to the cold spell, San Francisco scored 43 runs in a six-game span.
San Francisco takes a three-game losing streak into Wednesday’s series finale in San Diego. All three of the losses have been by one run, magnifying a lack of clutch hitting.
The Giants squandered a leadoff triple in the eighth and failed to score after placing runners on first and third with one out in the ninth during Tuesday’s shutout loss.
The offensive issues have popped up after San Francisco lost starting outfielders Aaron Rowand and Mark DeRosa to injuries.
Rowand was hit in the face by Los Angeles pitcher Vicente Padilla on April 16 and is on the disabled list with multiple fractures in his left cheek. He avoided surgery and the Giants are expecting him back in the lineup in early May.
The club’s leadoff hitter, Rowand was batting .304 with six RBIs.
DeRosa injured a hamstring during a headfirst slide the following afternoon and hasn’t yet gotten back into the starting lineup. He struck out as a pinch hitter during Monday’s loss to San Diego. He did not appear in Tuesday’s loss.
The Giants’ No. 5 hitter, DeRosa is hitting .216 with five RBIs.
At the same time, shortstop Edgar Renteria went into a major cold spell. Renteria has gone 5-for-38 (.132) over his last nine games after opening the season with 11 hits in 16 at-bats (.688).
Renteria is now batting .296 for the season after going 0-for-4 on Tuesday against the Padres.
The Giants will look to break out of the slump against San Diego’s Jon Garland on Wednesday. Garland has allowed 16 hits and walked 10 batters in 15 innings over three starts.
Garland has allowed 13 runs but seven of them have been unearned, leaving his ERA at a respectable 3.60.
The Padres have outscored their opponents, 20-8, during their current five-game winning streak that has boosted them into a tie for first place with San Francisco in the NL West.
San Diego had just one hit while beating the Giants and Jonathan Sanchez on Tuesday.
San Francisco starts Todd Wellmeyer on Wednesday and he’s been roughed up in both his starts. Wellmeyer has allowed four homers in 10 1/3 innings and has a 9.58 ERA. He allowed seven runs in four innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers in his last start.