Cincinnati keeps S.F.’s bats chilly on cool evening
When the league’s hottesthitting team meets one of the top pitching clubs, who blinks?
That’s the situation this week at Oracle Park, where the Giants, who are near the top of most pitching stats, are taking on the Reds, who’ve shredded opponents with their offensive attack. So, of course, in the first game of the series, it was Cincinnati turning in the lightsout work on the mound, holding San Francisco to two hits in a 30 win for the Reds.
Both teams went into Monday night’s game with six wins in their first nine games, and Giants manager Gabe Kapler said the Reds are “swinging
the bats well, they have a pretty deep lineup and they obviously have a strong pitching staff as well. They’re off to a good start.”
Monday’s game was, perhaps, not the best potential matchup, with San Francisco’s No. 5 starter, Aaron Sanchez, on the mound, although Sanchez did run the Giants’ streak of starts with at least five innings and no more than three runs allowed to 10 games, matching the 1937 team for the secondbest such start in franchise history.
Each of the next two games are prime viewing, with the Giants’ Kevin Gausman facing Cincinnati’s top starter, former Giants minorleaguer Luis Castillo, on Tuesday, and Johnny Cueto against Tyler Mahle on Wednesday.
Adding to the drama, Gausman and Cueto are former Reds, as are backup catcher Curt Casali and fourth starter Anthony DeSclafani, who were both with Cincinnati last year. That familiarity might help the Giants in some ways. “It gives us some inside information on things like makeup and tendencies,” Kapler said. “Having that kind of perspective is super helpful.”
The Giants made hay against one of the league’s worst teams, Colorado, over the weekend, sweeping three games, and they took two of three from a projected NL West contender in San Diego last week. The Reds are another opportunity to gauge where they stand against strong competition, but the team will need to get its offense in gear to do so. San Francisco entered Monday batting .204 and averaging 3.4 runs per game — quite a contrast with Cincinnati, which came in batting .284 and averaging 6.9 runs.
The Giants have some catching up to do, because the Reds have dominated this series lately, going 4832 against San Francisco since 2000, the best winning percentage for any Giants opponent in that span. Even if you include the 2012 NLDS, the Reds had won 18 of their past 29 series at Oracle/ AT&T Park.
Sanchez didn’t walk a batter or allow an extrabase hit in his Giants debut at San Diego last Tuesday, but on Monday, he walked No. 8 hitter Tucker Barnhart on four pitches in the third inning and, with two outs, gave up a homer to Winker. Reliever Jarlín García allowed Joey Votto’s first homer of the season in the sixth, a solo shot into McCovey Cove.
Wade Miley went five innings for the Reds and allowed both Giants hits and a walk while striking out three. Tejay Antone worked 32⁄3 innings in relief, walking one and striking out five. With Donovan Solano at second after being hit by a pitch and a groundout by Alex Dickerson, Lucas Sims replaced Antone and struck out Evan Longoria to end the game.