Pregame And Lineups 9/4 Giants @ Padres

Jul 13, 2013; San Diego, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants starting pitcher

(55) reacts after throwing a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. The Giants won 9-0. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

The Giants finish up a 3 city road trip this afternoon in San Diego with first pitch at 3:40pt. RHP Tim Lincecum (8-13, 4.38 ERA) will head out to the mound to try to prevent the series sweep against LHP Eric Stults (8-12, 3.81) of the Padres.

Lincecum has pitched well at Petco Park this season. Not only did he throw his first career no-hitter his last start in San Diego (July 13), he also put up 7 strong innings back on April 26 when he struck out 9 Padres.

Buster Posey is not in the lineup today. It wasn’t a planned day off but last night we heard from Hank Schulman that Buster may have torn a fingernail.

Hector Sanchez will be behind the dish for Lincecum’s return to the spot of one of his greatest glories. There is no word yet on whether Buster can pinch hit today or play tomorrow. I can only assume Bruce Bochy did not want to give the left-handed hitting Johnny Monell his first big league start against a left-handed pitcher.

For the Padres. The red is for left-handed hitters, the blue for switch hitters.

Chase Headley gets his first start since August 27th for San Diego. He had been sidelined for a week with a sore back. Jesus Guzman is starting at first base and is 6 for 15 (.400) against Lincecum with 1 home run and only 1 strikeout.

The Giants are looking to avoid their second sweep in San Diego this season. Back in April they lost a 3 game set with the Padres. The Giants are just 18-27 against left-handed starters this season. Let’s hope that turns around today.