Giants at Brewers
Eric Thames made a big return to the lineup for the Milwaukee Brewers and will try to get hot again as the club continues a homestand with the first of four games against the San Francisco Giants on Monday. Mired in a 4-for-33 slump and with just one home run since May 9, Thames was out of the starting lineup in Saturday's loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he slugged his 15th homer to help the Brewers salvage the finale of the three-game set 3-0.
Domingo Santana also went deep for Milwaukee and has four homers in his last seven contests. The Giants activated outfielder Hunter Pence from the disabled list, but he was not in the starting lineup in Sunday's 9-7 loss at Philadelphia. Home runs from Eduardo Nunez and Brandon Crawford, the first two for San Francisco after a stretch of six straight games without a long ball, were not enough as it fell for the ninth time in 12 games. Veteran Jeff Samardzija has pitched better than his 1-7 record would indicate, and he will get the nod in the opener opposite Junior Guerra for Milwaukee.
TV: 7:40 p.m. ET, MLB Network, NBCSN Bay Area (San Francisco), FSN Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants RH Jeff Samardzija (1-7, 4.63 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Junior Guerra (1-0, 1.84)
Samardzija is coming off his shortest start of the season, a four-inning effort Tuesday in which he allowed three runs and nine hits while striking out five against Washington. He finished May at 1-3 but had a 3.32 ERA in six starts while striking out 49 and walking only one. The 32-year-old is 0-3 with a 6.15 ERA in 14 career games (seven starts) at Miller Park.
Guerra improved to 10-3 in his career with six scoreless innings at the New York Mets on Wednesday. He has yielded eight hits in 14 2/3 innings on the season and opponents are hitting .206 against the Venezuela native since the beginning of last year. The 32-year-old, who has never faced the Giants, is 5-2 with a 2.34 ERA in 11 career starts at home.
WALK-OFFS
1. Milwaukee has held its opponent to two runs or fewer in four of the past five games.
2. Crawford has 10 RBIs over a six-game stretch.
3. INF Eric Sogard added an RBI single Saturday and the Brewers are 7-0 with him batting leadoff.