San Francisco @ Arizona preview
Chase Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 6, 2010 ) San Francisco 2, Arizona 0
The San Francisco Giants did their part. Unfortunately for them, the San Diego Padres didn’t comply.
The Giants remained one game out of first place in the National League West following Monday’s 2-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
They’ll go for another win and another shot at grabbing a share of first when they take on the Diamondbacks in the second of a three-game set on Tuesday.
The Padres held their ground on first place, at least for one more day, when they snapped a 10-game losing streak by securing a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.
San Francisco had taken advantage of San Diego’s recent struggles in picking up 5 ½ games in the standings during that losing stretch.
The Giants and Diamondbacks were locked in a pitcher’s duel between Madison Bumgarner and Ian Kennedy and needed extra innings in the opener until San Francisco’s Nate Schierholtz’s two-run triple brought home the winning runs in the top of the 11th for a 2-0 triumph.
The win also kept the Giants 1 ½ games behind Philadelphia in the race for the NL wild card.
A pair of young right-handers will meet when Tim Linceum (12-9, 3.68 ERA) and Barry Enright (6-2, 2.45 ERA) meet up, although guessing which of the two was the ace and which was the rookie at the current moment would be a difficult task
Lincecum, a two-time reigning Cy Young winner, is glad that the month of August is in his rearview mirror after suffering through what may have been his worst stretch as a professional.
Linceum went 0-5 in five August stats, getting tagged for four-plus earned runs in four of those appearances. He hopes to have turned the corner, evident by his last outing when the 26-year-old allowed just a run on five hits with nine strikeouts in eight effective innings to grab the win.
Lincecum is facing a familiar foe in Arizona, a squad which he has made 12 career starts against. In that time, he is 5-2 with 2.61 ERA and 99 strikeouts in 86.1 innings.
While Lincecum has struggled, Enright has done anything but since being called up and put into the rotation on June 30.
Enright is 5-0 over his previous nine starts, including a string of wins in his past four decisions. One of those victories came at the expense of San Francisco as Enright tossed seven shutout frames of a 6-0 triumph on Aug. 27.
The last-place Diamondbacks have dropped three straight after taking seven-of-eight games prior.