Miami @ San Francisco preview

Last Meeting ( May 16, 2014 ) Miami 7, San Francisco 5

The Miami Marlins still have work to do in order to salvage a lackluster road trip, but they enter Saturday’s contest against the San Francisco Giants reasonably optimistic. Jarrod Saltalamacchia snapped a career-worst 0-for-26 slump with four hits in Friday’s 6-4 win, and manager Mike Redmond hopes his catcher can finish the Marlins’ 11-game trek on a high note. “It’s been a rough go this road trip for him," Redmond told the Sun Sentinel. “It was nice to see him go out there and have a big night.”

Miami improved to 3-6 on its road trip with Friday’s win, but Giancarlo Stanton’s career-best 17-game hitting streak ended as he went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. San Francisco's Pablo Sandoval continued to show signs of breaking out of his lengthy slump with two hits on Friday, and he’s 11-for-28 during his season-high seven-game hitting streak. The Giants have been pleasantly surprised by the play of Tyler Colvin, who has seven hits in his last four games.

TV: 9:05 p.m. ET, FSN Florida (Miami), CSN Bay Area (San Francisco)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins RH Tom Koehler (3-3, 2.57 ERA) vs. Giants RH Tim Lincecum (3-2, 4.78)

Koehler is coming off his worst start of the season as he allowed four runs with five walks while throwing 103 pitches over 3 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday. The rough outing snapped his 16-inning scoreless streak and raised Koehler’s ERA from 1.99 to 2.57. The 27-year-old is 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two career starts against the Giants.

Lincecum turned in a stellar effort against the Atlanta Braves on Monday, allowing one run on two hits with 11 strikeouts over a season-high 7 2/3 innings. “It was vintage Timmy the way he had his good secondary pitches going along with the fastball,” manager Bruce Bochy told MLB.com. Garrett Jones is 4-for-17 with eight strikeouts against the two-time Cy Young Award winner, who is 2-1 with a 3.71 ERA in five career starts against Miami.

WALK-OFFS

1. The Marlins are 6-1 when tied after eight innings.

2. San Francisco has won six times this season when trailing by three or more runs.

3. Miami RHP Jose Fernandez underwent successful Tommy John surgery on Friday and hopes to return before the end of the 2015 season.

PREDICTION: Giants 6, Marlins 5