Rangers at Giants
The San Francisco Giants look to bounce back from one of their ugliest losses of the season on Saturday when they continue their three-game interleague series against the visiting Texas Rangers. The Giants took an early 6-0 lead on Friday before committing a key two-out error in the ninth inning and walking in the winning run in the 10th inning, giving the Rangers a 7-6 victory.
Rougned Odor and Joey Gallo each homered and Shin-Soo Choo drove in two runs on Friday as Texas improved to 12-9 in August and won for just the third time in 64 games when trailing after eight innings. Gallo is batting .338 over his last 14 games after going 2-for-3 with two RBIs in Friday’s contest, but he exited with a sprained left ankle and is listed as day-to-day. The Giants have faded from playoff contention with seven losses in their last nine games and will soon be without six-time All-Star catcher Buster Posey, who delivered an RBI single on Friday but is expected to have hip surgery as early as next week. Andrew McCutchen went 2-for-4 with a solo blast on Friday while Evan Longoria singled in five at-bats to extend his hitting streak to seven games.
TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Texas), NBCS Bay Area (San Francisco)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers LH Martin Perez (2-5, 6.93 ERA) vs. Giants LH Andrew Suarez (4-9, 4.68)
Perez extended his winless streak to eight starts last Saturday, giving up six runs in six innings in a no-decision against the Los Angeles Angels. The 27-year-old native of Venezuela has gone 0-2 with a 5.44 ERA and 25-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his last seven starts. Perez, who last faced the Giants in 2015, owns a 6-6 record and 3.93 ERA in 19 career interleague starts - including 2-1 with a 2.58 mark in his last six outings.
Suarez lost his third straight decision last Sunday after allowing seven runs (five earned) over 2 2/3 innings against Cincinnati. The 25-year-old rookie was a bright spot in the Giants’ rotation in the first half but has a 6.88 ERA over his last seven starts covering 35 1/3 innings. Suarez, who is making his first appearance versus Texas, owns a 5.55 ERA in 12 starts on the road this season compared to a 3.79 mark in 10 outings at AT&T Park.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Giants are 6-12 in interleague play despite outscoring their opponents 71-69 in those 18 contests.
2. Texas placed RHP Bartolo Colon (lower back strain) on the 10-day disabled list and recalled INF Hanser Alberto from Triple-A Round Rock.
3. The Giants optioned RHP Casey Kelly to Triple-A Sacramento.