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San Francisco Giants return to desert for another D-Back series

By Nick Vezmar |
PHOENIX, AZ - JUNE 29: Paul Goldschmidt #44 of the Arizona Diamondbacks hits a fly ball out during the first inning of the MLB game against the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field on June 29, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, AZ - JUNE 29: Paul Goldschmidt #44 of the Arizona Diamondbacks hits a fly ball out during the first inning of the MLB game against the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field on June 29, 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
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Coming off fresh from a rare road sweep of the Padres, the San Francisco Giants got a day off as they headed to Arizona. They face the Diamondbacks in a four game set, a rematch of the June/July series that saw the Giants sweeping the snakes. However, this Arizona team is not the same as we saw a month ago. They are neck-and-neck with the Dodgers for first place in the NL West, and up in second place for the Wild Card.

The Giants, who did nothing at the trade deadline, are standing pat with their lineup and rotation. This past series the men in Orange and Black continued with their offensive struggles, and their bullpen became a liability. Hopefully with the off day, the Giants can find ways to take advantage of their scoring chances. The bullpen, who has been used quite a bit in the extra inning battles, also got an important day of rest.

This is a crucial series for the Giants to win if they want to gain a spot in the division, and games have turned from should win to must win. The Diamondbacks are feeling the pressure as well, after the Dodgers retooled their infield to address weaknesses in their lineup. I don’t expect either team to roll over, which should lead to a fun divisional match-up.

Game One: Bumgarner (3-4, 3.06 ERA, 1.20 WHIP) vs. Greinke (12-5, 2.96 ERA, 1.05 WHIP)

After posting some bad numbers in Oakland, Madison Bumgarner had a great start against the Milwaukee Brewers. He went eight solid, only giving up two earned runs on six hits and one walk. The Giants offense was, yet again, fairly silent in that start. His last matchup against the D-Backs came on June 5th at AT&T Park, where he gave up two runs on eight hits over six innings. His rough second inning, and the Giants lack of offense, sealed his first loss after returning from the disabled list. Paul Goldschmidt is Bumgarner’s biggest adversary, though that goes without saying for a lot of the Giants’ pitching staff.

Zack Greinke on the other hand has been pretty consistent all year, and the month of July saw him post four winning decisions. This is the second time the Giants see Greinke at Chase Field this season. In his first start against the Giants in April, he went seven innings giving up only one run on three hits. Nick Hundley and Andrew McCutchen have good career numbers against Greinke, but it’s likely Hundley won’t be playing given the off day. The Giants need Bumgarner to be on his game against this tough starter.

Game Two: Stratton (8-6, 5.14 ERA, 1.46 WHIP) vs. Corbin (7-4, 3.26 ERA, 1.06 WHIP)

Making his second stint of starts in the MLB is Chris Stratton, who is tasked with the Friday night game. He faced Arizona twice, and his last start at Chase Field was arguably one of his best this season. Stratton went seven strong, allowing only one run on five hits, while striking out eight and walking nobody. It has been a while since his dominant starts of April, considering his last start against the D-Backs in June he only went four innings and was pulled for a pinch hitter in a crunch situation. No surprise, Goldschmidt gives Stratton a nightmare to the tune of three doubles and two RBI.

The Giants see another tough lefty in Patrick Corbin, whom the Giants have seen three times this season. In both starts at home, he has limited them to less than one earned run, including a complete game shutout. Corbin struggled during the month of July, giving up at least four earned runs in two of his five starts. Still, the Giants have a hell of a time hitting lefties with any kind of consistency, so this is yet another challenge for the lineup. Hunter Pence has the best career numbers against Corbin with four doubles, four home runs and eleven RBI.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JULY 29: Andrew Suarez #59 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers in the top of the first inning at AT&T Park on July 29, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – JULY 29: Andrew Suarez #59 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Milwaukee Brewers in the top of the first inning at AT&T Park on July 29, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Game Three: Suarez (4-6, 4.11 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) vs. Buchholz (4-1, 2.65 ERA, 1.06 WHIP)

Coming off a win against the Brewers, Andrew Suarez will be asked to deliver the same dominance he did against the D-Backs in June. In his last start in Arizona, Suarez went six innings and gave up only one run. Like many of his starts, the D-Backs put a lot of balls into play against him. Still, this is a good opportunity for him to normalize his ERA that ballooned in the month of July. While Goldschmidt does have decent history against Suarez, it’s Ketel Marte that presents a bigger challenge. Marte has three hits, including two doubles, against the rookie lefty.

Although he doesn’t have lightning stuff like he used to, Clay Buchholz is showing flashes of his earlier career dominance on the mound. In all of his starts this season, he has only one start where he gave up more than three earned runs. In his only start against the Giants at AT&T Park this season, he gave up seven hits and two earned runs over six innings. He struck out seven and induced eleven fly balls, but the Giants eventually won that game after some 9th and 10th inning heroics. Evan Longoria has the most experience against him, but his pedestrian career batting average of .208 is not promising for this start.

Game Four: Holland (5-8, 3.90 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) vs. Ray (3-2, 5.05 ERA, 1.39 WHIP)

After six straight appearances resulting in losses, the Giants won in Derek Holland‘s last start against the Padres. The rotation’s dependable veteran won in his last road appearance against the Padres, although his pitch count forced him out in the fourth inning. Since then, he has proven reliable out of the bullpen and in his last two starts. Newly acquired third baseman Eduardo Escobar has a great history against Holland, going 6-for-13 against with one home run and two doubles. Holland will have a tall task to close out the series in the getaway game on Sunday.

Robbie Ray has not been spectacular in this rotation, as the D-Backs are riding a four game losing streak when he starts. Although he does not have a decision against the Giants, the team is 1-1 in his starts. Ray has combined for 10 2/3 innings pitched against the Orange and Black, giving up 5 earned runs and 10 hits and striking out 15 batters. With a medium sample size, Hunter Pence and Joe Panik have the better career numbers against the lefty. The getaway game should be the Giants best to get a win in this series.

Avoiding a snake bite…

The Giants lineup will see two lefties and two righties, but they will need to get hits with RISP to really make it sting against the division leader. As a team, pitchers included, they are batting .249 with runners in scoring position. Compared with a .272 batting average with their opponents, this number really needs to start improving. Chase d’Arnaud, Evan Longoria and Joe Panik are the biggest offenders in this category.

Although with runners in scoring position and two outs, Gorkys Hernandez and Andrew McCutchen are the biggest offenders in batting average. The most surprising thing is the situational statistics with bases loaded. Longoria, McCutchen and Buster Posey average about 1 hit per every 9 at-bats with the bases juiced. For the guys that are supposed to be middle of the order, they have certainly not been the most dependable.

The bullpen is also starting to show signs of wear and tear. Tony Watson was not his sharpest in the month of July, and Reyes Moronta has also had some issues with blown saves. Mark Melancon has been the biggest liability as of late, collecting two blown saves and a loss in three of his last four appearances. Will Smith has surprised a lot, but the month of July saw him collecting a loss in Oakland. It’s important for the starters to get past the sixth inning, with a four game series immediately followed by a two game series against the Astros.

Next. Giants do Nothing at Trade Deadline

I don’t think the Giants will repeat a road sweep, but weirder things have happened this season. Their goal should be to take at least two games before heading home.

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