Cincinnati @ San Francisco preview
Oracle Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 24, 2010 ) Cincinnati 5, San Francisco 16
Homer Bailey has been superb in two starts since returning from the disabled list. The Cincinnati Reds right-hander will look to keep the success going Wednesday afternoon against a suddenly hot-hitting team.
The San Francisco Giants have scored 27 runs and mashed out 35 hits while winning the first two games of the series and cooling off a Reds squad that had won eight of nine games entering the series.
So with Bailey having allowed just one run and seven hits over 13 innings since returning from a shoulder injury, something has to give.
Bailey threw six innings of three-hit shutout ball against Florida in his return and then gave up one run and four hits in seven innings while beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in his last outing.
Bailey has shaved a full run off his earned-run average since returning and now has a 4.52 ERA to go with a 3-2 record. He has a 1-0 mark with a 5.71 ERA in three starts against the Giants.
San Francisco scored just one run in the final two games of a weekend series against St. Louis before exploding with back-to-back, double-digit scoring outbursts against Cincinnati.
The Giants had 17 hits Monday during an 11-2 victory and had 18 hits Tuesday in a 16-5 trouncing.
Several Giants have been extraordinarily hot.
Freddy Sanchez had four hits in each game and is 8-for-9 with a homer and three RBIs in the series. Pablo Sandoval is 6-for-10 with a homer and seven RBIs, Aubrey Huff is 5-for-8 with a homer and four RBIs and Andres Torres is 4-for-8 with a homer and six RBIs.
Buster Posey hit a three-run homer and Juan Uribe had a two-run blast during Tuesday’s game.
Giants rookie left-hander Madison Bumgarner will be hoping that the hitting splurge continues today in the series finale.
Bumgarner defeated St Louis in his last outing after going 0-2 over his previous four starts. He is 5-4 with a 3.20 ERA in 11 starts.
Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips homered twice and had three hits Tuesday, marking his third game of three or more hits in the last five outings.
Phillips, who had a four-hit game Sunday, is 11-for-23 (.478) over the last five games.
Meanwhile, Cincinnati placed outfielder Jim Edmonds on the disabled list with the strained oblique muscle he sustained during Monday’s game.
The Reds are hoping Edmonds will return for the late-September stretch drive.