Giants at Cardinals
While offense has been difficult to come by in general all year for the San Francisco Giants, their knack for getting it when they need it lately has them enjoying their best stretch of the season by far. The Giants eye their eighth win in nine tries and look to complete their first sweep in 2017 on Sunday, when they wrap up their three-game series against the host St. Louis Cardinals.
San Francisco is among the National League's worst teams away from home at 8-15 and ranks last with 151 runs, but the tide of its season began to turn a bit when it used a four-run ninth inning against the New York Mets on May 10 to post its first road victory when trailing in the frame in over a year. The Giants notched their second such win in as many tries in the series opener on Friday, when they scored all six of their runs after the sixth inning, and Christian Arroyo's two-run double in the 13th broke a scoreless tie in Saturday's 3-1 triumph. While San Francisco's recent surge has given the team some hope following its dreadful 12-24 start, St. Louis has dropped a season-high four straight - including two in 13 innings. The Cardinals' starting pitching has yet to give up a run over 15 frames in this series, but the bullpen has been pounded for nine - eight earned - in seven innings and has posted a 6.75 ERA overall during the skid.
TV: 2:15 p.m. ET, MLB Network, NBC Sports Bay Area (San Francisco), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants RH Matt Cain (3-1, 4.04 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (3-3, 5.31)
Cain became the 12th pitcher in club history to reach 2,000 career innings Monday, getting his first win since April 24 after throwing a season-high 112 pitches while permitting one run and five hits over 6 2/3 frames versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. The three-time All-Star has allowed fewer than three earned runs in six of his last seven turns, although his two prior road outings were his worst over that stretch. Cain has struggled more versus the Cardinals than any other NL team over his career, going 2-5 with a 6.19 ERA in 12 games (11 starts).
Wainwright proved to be effectively wild last Sunday in a victory against the Chicago Cubs, yielding only four hits while walking a season-high four across seven scoreless frames. The outing marked only the second time this year the former 20-game winner, who threw only 56 of his 102 pitches for strikes, worked at least six innings. Buster Posey (6-for-17) and Joe Panik (3-for-9) both have enjoyed some success versus Wainwright, who is 5-7 with a 3.27 ERA in 14 appearances (12 starts) against the Giants.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cardinals OF Stephen Piscotty drove home the team's lone run in his return to the lineup Saturday. It marked his first action since landing on the 10-day disabled list May 5 with a hamstring injury.
2. Of the Giants' major league-low 33 home runs, 27 have been solo shots - including each of the last 13.
3. St. Louis traded 1B Matt Adams to Atlanta for INF Juan Yepez on Saturday.