San Francisco @ Cincinnati preview
Great American Ball Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 7, 2010 ) San Francisco 6, Cincinnati 5
The San Francisco Giants are beginning to get some offense from a few unexpected sources.
The Giants will be looking to keep their offense in gear when they take on the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday.
When San Francisco went to spring training in February, Juan Uribe figured to be stuck with little playing time as a utility infielder behind Freddy Sanchez at second base, Edgar Rentaria at shortstop and Pablo Sandoval at third.
But Sanchez’s injury at the beginning of the season and Renteria’s injury in April opened the door for more playing time for Uribe, who is beginning to take advantage of the opportunity.
Uribe drove in four runs on Monday to help to Giants edge the Reds, 6-5, in the series opener. His two-run single in the seventh provided the go-ahead run.
Monday marked the third time in the last for games that Uribe had driven in multiple runs and the fourth time in the last nine games.
Two more San Francisco hitters who have made their presence felt recently are Pat Burrell and Buster Posey, another pair of sluggers that didn’t make the starting lineup in April. Burrell was picked up off the scrap heap from the Tampa Bay Rays last week and is 3-for-8 with a run and an RBI in three games in his return to the National League.
Posey was the Giants' top prospect before the season but was held down in the minor leagues while Benji Molina played catcher and Aubrey Huff played first in the majors. He was finally recalled at the end of May and has set the team on fire, going 15-for-33 (.455) in nine games.
Andres Torres, who began getting regular playing time when Aaron Rowand was hurt in April, has established himself as the club’s leadoff hitter and boosted his average to .291 while going 6-for-14 over the last three games.
Matt Cain will be looking to benefit from that offense on Tuesday. The 25-year-old right-hander has historically gotten very poor run support from his teammates and has been on the wrong end of two shutouts already this season.
But Cain has been sharp lately, allowing one earned run and 10 hits in 25 innings over his last three starts - earning the win in the last two. He is 2-3 with a 3.96 ERA in six career starts against Cincinnati, notching 32 strikeouts in 38 2/3 total innings.
The Reds will counter with right-hander Sam LeCure. The 26-year-old rookie was called up at the end of May when Homer Bailey went on the disabled list and picked up a win in his first start, holding the Houston Astros to two runs in six innings.
LeCure wasn’t quite as fortunate in his second start, allowing three runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings to suffer a loss last week against the St. Louis Cardinals.