San Francisco @ Cincinnati preview
Great American Ball Park
Last Meeting ( Mar 24, 2010 ) San Francisco 3, Cincinnati 10
If the surging San Francisco Giants hope to contend for a playoff spot this season, one of the teams they’ll have to prove they can beat is the Cincinnati Reds.
The Giants and Reds square off Monday in the opener of a four-game series that should give both teams a good sense of how they measure up.
A winner of three of four and seven of 10, San Francisco is doing what it promised to do in spring training and relying on its strong starting pitching to get it through games. The Giants rank third in the National League in team ERA due mainly to a starting rotation that boasts the talent of pitchers like Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain.
Cincinnati will miss Lincecum in this series but will still have to contend with Cain, Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez.
The Reds could be up for the challenge, as they lead the National League in runs scored and have ridden their offense to within fighting distance of the St. Louis Cardinals at the top of the NL Central. Drew Stubbs played the offensive hero in Sunday’s 5-4 win over the Washington Nationals, singling in a run in the top of the 10th.
Scott Rolen clubbed his team-leading 14th homer in Sunday’s win - a two-run shot that put the Reds on top in the ninth before Washington battled back. Rolen has provided a nice compliment to Joey Votto, who is gaining more notice by the national media as his stats keep getting more and more impressive.
Votto drove in a run on Sunday to give him 36 RBIs on the season along with 11 homers and a .318 batting average.
San Francisco is coming off a wild win of its own - a 6-5 decision over the Pittsburgh Pirates in 10 innings. Freddy Sanchez plated the winning run with a sacrifice fly and Juan Uribe drove in two runs.
The Giants will send Zito to the mound in the opener. The veteran left-hander has been strong this season and is coming off a seven-inning effort against the Colorado Rockies last week in which he allowed four hits and no runs but did not factor in the decision.
Zito has struggled against Cincinnati in the past, owning a 3-2 record with a bloated 7.13 ERA in seven career starts. Walks have been an issue against the Reds, with Zito issuing 16 free passes in 35 1/3 frames.
Cincinnati will counter with young right-hander Johnny Cueto. The 25-year-old flamethrower leads the Reds with 54 strikeouts but is coming off his worst outing of the season last week against St. Louis. Cueto yielded eight runs and 10 hits in five innings without striking out a batter.
That dud snapped a four-game winning streak in which Cueto had allowed a total of three runs in 28 frames.