Giants at Marlins
Giancarlo Stanton seems to be matching or breaking records on a daily basis lately, and the Miami Marlins are all too happy to go along for the ride. The Marlins seek their fourth straight victory Monday when they open a three-game set at home against the San Francisco Giants.
Stanton became the second player in club history to hit 40 home runs Friday, delivered a three-run blast Saturday to become the first player to reach the 100-homer plateau at Marlins Park and tied Gary Sheffield's team record for most in a season (42) on Sunday as Miami completed a weekend sweep of Colorado. The four-time All-Star's last blast also gave him 250 homers in 941 career games, making him the sixth-fastest player in major-league history to reach that mark since 1913. Stanton, who has homered in four straight and 21 times in 33 contests, slugged three home runs from July 7-9 during a three-game sweep in San Francisco, which is 3-8 on the road since the All-Star break and 20-40 away from home overall. The Giants lost two of three over the weekend in Washington and may be a bit weary after logging 20 innings while splitting a doubleheader with the Nationals on Sunday.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, NBCSN Bay Area (San Francisco), FSN Florida (Miami)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants LH Ty Blach (8-7, 4.15 ERA) vs. Marlins LH Adam Conley (4-5, 5.43)
Blach has worked at least seven innings in each of his last five starts and won the last two, allowing two runs apiece in home victories against the Oakland Athletics on Aug. 3 and the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday. The Denver native has been able to enjoy success despite only striking out 63 in 128 innings in part because he has kept the ball in the park (10 homers allowed). Blach is 3-3 with a 5.06 ERA in 11 appearances (seven starts) away from home as he faces Miami for the first time.
Conley was handed his second loss in as many starts Wednesday at Washington, surrendering five runs on a career-high tying 11 hits and three walks across five innings. The outing marked the second straight time the 27-year-old Washington State product failed to last six innings after he did so in each of his three July turns, during which he went 2-0 with a 1.74 ERA. Conley did not factor into the decision in his only career start against San Francisco last season despite giving up four runs in 5 2/3 frames.
WALK-OFFS
1. Stanton on Sunday joined Hall-of-Famer Frank Robinson as the 10th-youngest player to reach 250 career homers (27 years, 278 days).
2. San Francisco 2B Joe Panik will be re-evaluated Monday after taking a hard tag to the head during Sunday night's defeat.
3. Since Stanton moved into the No. 2 spot in the batting order on May 23, he is batting .296 with 31 homers and 60 RBIs in 69 starts.