Diamondbacks at Giants
With their top three starting pitchers on the disabled list, the San Francisco Giants with turn to another rookie when they host the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday afternoon for the rubber match of their three-game series. One day after Tyler Beede made his major-league debut, Andrew Suarez will do the same when he starts in place of Johnny Cueto, who landed on the 10-day disabled list with a sprained left ankle.
The Giants evened the series with Tuesday's 5-4 victory as Andrew McCutchen delivered a walk-off RBI single after Paul Goldschmidt crushed a two-out solo homer off Hunter Strickland in the top of the ninth. Buster Posey went 2-for-3 and is 12-for-26 during his eight-game hitting streak for the Giants, who hope to have both Cueto and Jeff Samardzija (strained right pectoral) back in the rotation next week. Arizona is playing without middle-of-the-order hitters Jake Lamb (sprained left shoulder) and Steven Souza (pectoral strain), but Goldschmidt showed signs of breaking out of his early-season slump with two hits on Tuesday - including his 440-foot homer. The five-time All-Star is batting .158 but always has enjoyed playing at AT&T Park, where he’s a career .312 hitter with 10 home runs and 43 RBIs.
TV: 3:45 p.m. ET, FS Arizona, NBCS Bay Area (San Francisco)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks LH Robbie Ray (2-0, 5.73 ERA) vs. Giants LH Andrew Suarez (MLB debut)
Ray improved to 2-0 with a strong outing against St. Louis on Thursday, when he allowed one run and two hits with nine strikeouts in six innings. The 26-year-old native of Tennessee is 9-1 with a 1.84 ERA in his last 16 road starts dating back to the beginning of last season. Hunter Pence is 7-for-13 against Ray, who is 4-1 with 2.53 ERA in eight career turns versus the Giants - including a 3-1 mark and 1.46 ERA in four career starts at AT&T Park.
Suarez was selected by the Giants in the second round of the 2015 draft and has gone 21-18 with a 3.20 ERA in 62 games (57 starts) in the minors. The 25-year-old native of Miami competed for a spot in the rotation during spring training but was demoted after recording a 7.62 ERA in 13 innings. Suarez had a 2.96 ERA in 11 starts for Double-A Richmond last season before moving up to Triple-A Sacramento, where he posted a 3.55 ERA in 15 games (13 starts).
WALK-OFFS
1. Arizona MGR Torey Lovullo served a one-game suspension Tuesday for his role in last Sunday’s fracas with St. Louis C Yadier Molina.
2. The Giants optioned RHP Roberto Gomez to Triple-A Sacramento and recalled LHP Steven Okert.
3. Arizona INF Chris Owings went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Tuesday, snapping his nine-game hitting streak.