Blue Jays at Giants
Interleague play might not be the instant elixir for San Francisco Giants’ struggling offense, after all. The Giants, who have scored a total of three runs over their last three contests, continue their three-game series against the visiting Toronto Blue Jays hoping to get untracked after recording four hits in Monday's 3-1 loss.
Second baseman Joe Panik is 0-for-12 in the last three games for San Francisco, which is 2-for-21 with runners in scoring position over that stretch. The Giants have dropped four of their last six and clearly miss left fielder Angel Pagan, who has missed the last eight games with a hamstring strain but hopes to return for Thursday’s series opener at Arizona. The Blue Jays moved back to .500 on Monday after manager John Gibbons made a few changes to the team’s ineffective bullpen. Gibbons said he is removing struggling relievers Drew Storen and Brett Cecil from high-leverage situations while giving Gavin Floyd and Jesse Chavez the opportunity to handle the setup duties for closer Roberto Osuna.
TV: 10:15 p.m. ET, Sportsnet (Toronto), CSN Bay Area (San Francisco)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Blue Jays LH J.A. Happ (4-0, 2.50 ERA) vs. Giants RH Matt Cain (0-4, 7.84)
Happ continued his strong start Thursday with seven innings of one-run ball against Texas and has allowed no more than three runs in 16 consecutive outings since Aug. 14. “His confidence is through the roof,” Toronto pitching coach Pete Walker told the Toronto Star. “I think he feels like he finally understands his game completely.” The 33-year-old has pitched at least six innings in all six of his starts this season and has gone 4-5 with a 5.04 ERA in 15 career interleague games (14 starts).
Cain dropped to 0-4 for the first time in his career Thursday as Colorado pummeled the 31-year-old for eight runs (six earned) on 10 hits over four innings. The three-time All-Star owns a 9-1 record with a 3.01 ERA in 324 career interleague starts, including 7 2/3 strong innings in his only previous start against Toronto on June 19, 2010. Troy Tulowitzki is 21-for-64 with five home runs against Cain, who has allowed 44 hits and 27 earned runs in 31 innings over his first six starts this season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Toronto 3B Edwin Encarnacion is batting .336 against San Francisco in 33 career games.
2. The Giants optioned OF Mac Williamson to Triple-A Sacramento and recalled OF Jarrett Parker.
3. Toronto placed Cecil on the paternity leave list and recalled RHP Ryan Tepera from Triple-A Buffalo.