San Diego @ San Francisco preview
Oracle Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 14, 2010 ) San Diego 2, San Francisco 3
Tim Lincecum can’t be blamed for the fact that the San Francisco Giants are just 2-8 against the San Diego Padres this season. Sunday marks his first start against the Padres this season.
Lincecum has dominated lesser versions of the Padres in recent seasons so it will be interesting to see how he fares against a division-leading San Diego club in the finale of a three-game series between the National League West’s top two teams.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner is 4-2 with a 1.67 earned-run average in 11 career starts against the Padres. He has held San Diego hitters to a .196 average while striking out 85 in 75 2/3 innings.
Lincecum hasn’t been as dominant this season as the past two campaigns, as he takes an 11-6 record and 3.41 ERA into Sunday’s start.
He is coming off a shaky start against the Chicago Cubs in which he allowed six runs and eight hits in four innings. He has lost back-to-back outings, falling to the Atlanta Braves in his previous start.
Lincecum will be attempting to give the Giants a series win over the Padres after the teams split the first two games. San Francisco trails San Diego by 2 1/2 games in the NL West.
Padres slugger Adrian Gonzalez has struggled against Lincecum, hitting just .212 and striking out 13 times in 33 career at-bats. Gonzalez has never had an extra-base hit against Lincecum.
Recent San Diego acquisitions Miguel Tejada (.111 in nine at-bats) and Ryan Ludwick (.100 in 10 at-bats) have traditionally struggled against the right-hander.
Opposing Lincecum will be Wade LeBlanc, who is 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA in three career starts against the Giants. The left-hander wasn’t part of the decision in his lone start against San Francisco this season, a Padres’ victory back in May.
LeBlanc had lost six of seven decisions before beating the Pittsburgh Pirates in his last start. He struck out eight and allowed just one run in 5 2/3 innings.
LeBlanc is 6-10 with a 3.51 ERA but has struggled on the road with an ERA of 4.86.
New San Francisco acquisition Jose Guillen will get his first start as a Giant on Sunday. Guillen was acquired from the Kansas City Royals on Friday and grounded out as a pinch hitter during Saturday’s game.
The first two games of the series were decided by 3-2 scores. San Diego won the opener against Giants lefty Jonathan Sanchez, who had boasted that San Francisco would sweep the series.
The Giants won on Saturday when Juan Uribe delivered the game-winning single in the bottom of the 11th inning. San Francisco’s bullpen was exceptional, stranding nine Padres over the final four innings.