Braves at Giants
The San Francisco Giants have struggled on the road during their disappointing start, so opening a three-game home series Friday with the Atlanta Braves is a welcomed sight after another long road trip. The Giants finished 3-4 on a seven-game trek that ended with Thursday’s 5-1 defeat to the Chicago Cubs, giving San Francisco a 9-19 record away from home - compared to an 11-10 mark at AT&T Park entering three-game sets against Atlanta and Washington.
Shortstop Brandon Crawford collected two hits in Thursday’s defeat, finishing the road trip with a .321 average while extending his streak of error-less games to 27. The Braves dropped the final two games of a 5-4 homestand to Pittsburgh on Wednesday and Thursday, allowing 21 runs in that stretch and 42 hits during their past three contests. Rookie third baseman Rio Ruiz recorded three hits Thursday and is 8-for-21 in his past six games, while rookie shortstop Dansby Swanson is hitting .288 while recording at least one hit in 14 of his past 17 contests. The trip to San Francisco opens a three-city, nine-game road trip (Los Angeles Angels, Cincinnati) for Atlanta, which has won four of its past five away from home.
TV: 10:15 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FSN Southeast (Atlanta), NBC Sports Bay Area (San Francisco)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves LH Jaime Garcia (1-3, 4.07 ERA) vs. Giants RH Matt Cain (3-2, 4.91)
Garcia enters the series opener after an excellent start Sunday in a 3-2 loss to Washington, allowing just one earned run on seven hits in eight innings with no walks and a season-best eight strikeouts. The 30-year-old has struggled in six road starts, allowing 19 earned runs in 34 1/3 innings as opposed to three earned runs in 14 ½ innings in two home outings. Garcia is 3-1 lifetime against the Giants with a 2.88 ERA in eight career outings, giving up two runs in two innings in a relief appearance last year.
Cain looks to end an up-and-down May on an upswing and home is a good place to do it, as the 32-year-old is 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA in four starts at AT&T Park. He has posted an 8.41 ERA with more walks (14) than strikeouts (11) in 20 1/3 innings this month, allowing seven runs on nine hits over 5 1/3 innings Sunday at St. Louis. Cain is 4-2 with a 3.42 ERA in eight career starts against Atlanta, but has faced the Braves just once since 2013.
WALK-OFFS
1. San Francisco rookie INF Christian Arroyo went 0-for-3 Thursday, finishing the road trip hitting just .138.
2. Braves 2B Brandon Phillips has nine hits in 19 at-bats the last six games, raising his average to .308.
3. Giants INF/OF Eduardo Nunez was scratched from Thursday’s lineup with a hamstring injury.