Milwaukee @ San Francisco preview
Oracle Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 18, 2010 ) Milwaukee 2, San Francisco 1
Barry Zito has gone more than two months without recording a victory. The San Francisco Giants see Sunday as a good time for that dubious streak to end.
Zito will be on the mound for Sunday’s critical series finale after the Giants lost back-to-back games to the Milwaukee Brewers. San Francisco has fallen back to a half-game behind the San Diego Padres in the National League West.
So a solid effort from Zito would be timely as a victory could propel the Giants back into first place should the San Diego Padres lose to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Making the contest even more important is that third-place Colorado is now just a half-game behind the Giants, and the Rockies are by far the hottest team in the division.
Zito has lost nine consecutive decisions since defeating the New York Mets on July 16.
The left-hander certainly endured some rough outings but he’s been a hard-luck loser in his two starts.
Zito lost to Arizona on Sept. 8 when he gave up two runs and four hits in six innings. Then he allowed just one hit during 5 2/3 innings against Los Angeles but an unearned run resulting from an error by Juan Uribe tagged Zito with the defeat in a 1-0 loss.
Zito is 8-13 with a 4.02 earned-run average entering today’s contest.
One Milwaukee player Zito will need to be wary of is Ryan Braun. The outfielder is 4-for-10 against Zito with two homers, a triple and a double.
Braun went 0-for-4 on Saturday to end a five-game hitting streak in which he went 11-for-22. Braun is batting .391 since the beginning of August.
Chris Narveson will start for Milwaukee. The left-hander was torched by the Giants in early June.
Narveson allowed 10 runs – nine earned – and nine hits in 3 1/3 innings during a 15-2 loss to San Francisco. Andres Torres, Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey all hit first-inning homers off Narveson.
Overall, Narveson has an 11-7 record despite a shaky 5.05 ERA. He has pitched better of late with four straight starts of allowing two or fewer runs. He has allowed three earned runs or less in nine straight outings.
San Francisco’s offense has produced just one run and eight hits in the two straight losses to the Brewers. Randy Wolf blanked the Giants on three hits Friday night and Yovani Gallardo pitched seven innings of five-hit ball Saturday.
Giants shortstop Edgar Renteria missed Saturday’s game with an elbow injury after batting leadoff the previous two games. He might be available today.