Arizona @ San Francisco preview
Oracle Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 28, 2010 ) Arizona 2, San Francisco 4
The San Francisco Giants rearranged their pitching rotation by pushing Tim Lincecum up a day to start Wednesday night as the National League postseason race heats up to scorching levels.
The red-hot Lincecum was originally slated to start Thursday’s series finale against visiting Arizona but will instead face the Diamondbacks in today’s middle game of the three-game series as the Giants guard a two-game lead in the National League West with five games to go.
Moving Lincecum up a day sets the right-hander up for a possible one-game playoff appearance on Monday should one be necessary as well. It also provides the option for Giants manager Bruce Bochy to bring his ace back on short rest to start Sunday if needed.
The Giants and San Diego Padres – the team chasing San Francisco – finish the regular season with a three-game weekend series in San Francisco.
Of course, Lincecum would also be well-rested for a playoff series opener too. But the Giants surely aren’t ready to put much time into playoff planning even after beating the Diamondbacks 4-2 on Tuesday night.
But with Lincecum flip-flopping starts with rookie left-hander Madison Bumgarner, San Francisco is certainly looking to put the pressure on the Padres, who lost their second straight game to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner has been on a roll in September, compiling a 4-1 record and 2.08 earned-run average in five starts. The hot stretch has improved his season totals to 15-10 and 3.51.
This will be Lincecum’s fifth start against Arizona this season. The results have been mixed - he’s 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA. His career record against the Diamondbacks is 6-2.
Arizona also is sending a hot pitcher to the mound in rookie Ian Kennedy.
Kennedy hasn’t lost in nine starts dating to Aug. 4. Though he has been saddled with four straight no-decisions in September, he has allowed just two earned runs in 24 innings for a spectacular 0.75 ERA.
Kennedy is 1-1 with a 2.20 ERA in four starts against San Francisco and threw two-hit shutout ball over eight innings earlier this month. He has fanned 27 Giants in 28 2/3 innings.
Overall, the right-hander is 9-9 with a 3.76 ERA.
San Francisco catcher Buster Posey is 5-for-9 against Kennedy and is batting .415 (17-for-41) against the Diamondbacks despite going 0-for-4 on Tuesday.
The Giants are hoping hot-hitting second baseman Freddy Sanchez (.341 since Aug. 1) will be available today. Sanchez received an injection in his sore throwing shoulder on Tuesday.
Arizona third baseman Mark Reynolds missed his third consecutive game with a bruised right thumb.
Second baseman Kelly Johnson and center fielder Chris Young have fared much better against Lincecum this season than they had in past campaigns.
Johnson was just 1-for-14 against Lincecum before going 5-for-13 (.385) this season. Young is 3-for-9 (.333) this season after being just 2-for-27 against the Giants ace.