San Francisco @ Pittsburgh preview
PNC Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 4, 2010 ) San Francisco 6, Pittsburgh 4
The future is looking pretty bright for the San Francisco Giants now that Buster Posey has a spot on the big league team.
Posey will be looking to continue his assult on National League pitching when the Giants face the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.
San Francisco’s first round pick in the 2008 draft, Posey had been the source of much scrutiny by prospect evaluators who almost unanimously believed that the Florida State product should have began the season as the Giants' Opening Day catcher.
A strong start at Triple-A only raised more questions as to why San Francisco bothered to re-sign Bengi Molina in the offseason. But with Molina enjoying a bit of an offensive resurgence during the first quarter of the season, the Giants finally decided to move Posey to first base just to get his bat in the major league lineup.
They have yet to regret that decision, as Posey went 2-for-4 with two runs scored on Friday to push his average to .478 (11-for-23) in six games. The 23-year-old has made all six of his starts at first base.
Juan Uribe and Aubrey Huff provided the power in the series opener on Friday, each clubbing a two-run homer in the sixth inning to propel San Francisco to a 6-4 win. Eli Whiteside - getting a start at catcher in place of Molina - added a solo shot.
The Pirates will send their highest-paid player, left-hander Paul Maholm, to the mound to face Posey and company on Saturday. Maholm, 27, is making $4.5 million this season in the second year of a three-year extension for Pittsburgh, which ranks last in the majors with a team payroll of just over $34 million.
But Maholm happens to be one of the only members of the organization currently earning his money, posting a 3.90 ERA in 11 through his first 11 starts. He has not gotten much help from his offense lately, failing to earn a decision in either of his last two starts despite allowing a total of two earned runs in 13 innings.
Maholm faced the Giants back on April 13 and did not factor in the decision, allowing three runs and eight hits in five innings. For his career, Maholm is 1-1 with a 3.13 ERA in seven starts against San Francisco.
San Francisco will counter with the weak link in its otherwise outstanding rotation, right-hander Todd Wellemeyer. The 31-year-old journeyman earned a spot in the Giants rotation when top prospect Madison Bumgarner failed to step up in spring training and has mixed in some solid starts of late.
Wellemeyer has allowed two earned runs or less in six of his last eight appearances, going 3-2 in that span.