As a team, the San Francisco Giants haven’t hit many targets this season, but on Monday evening, right-hander Jeff Samardzija continued to hit his at a historic rate.
In a 7-2 win over the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers, Samardzija punctuated a dominant start by striking out 10 hitters and not issuing a walk.
Samardzija has showcased impressive command over a lengthy stretch, become the first Giants pitcher since at least 1893 to record 50-plus strikeouts and one walk or fewer over seven straight starts, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“Shark” kicked off the bottom of the seventh inning by punching out Brewers’ power threat and Bay Area native Eric Thames on a 96-mile per hour fastball, and stranded a Milwaukee runner at third base later in the frame when the game still hung in the balance.
Following a crushing series loss against the Major League-worst Philadelphia Phillies over the weekend, the Giants will try to build off of Monday’s win behind the arm of veteran righty Matt Cain.
Cain has struggled in six career starts at Miller Park in Milwaukee, recording a 6.30 earned run average, the fourth-worst mark for Cain in any Major League ballpark.
Cain will catch a few breaks though, as Brewers’ slugger Ryan Braun is on the disabled list while third baseman Travis Shaw is out of the lineup on paternity leave. Braun is a career .370 hitter in 27 at-bats against Cain, while Shaw homered in his only career plate appearance against the Giants’ starter.
Though Cain has fared poorly in his career against Milwaukee, only one position player in the Brewers’ starting lineup, third baseman Hernan Perez (0-for-3), has any history against him.
Milwaukee will counter by starting right-hander Chase Anderson, who boasts a 4-1 record with a 3.30 ERA in 2017. Anderson has 59 strikeouts in 62 and ⅔ innings this season, but a few Giants’ hitters have enjoyed success against the former Diamondbacks’ pitcher.
In four career starts against the Giants, Anderson has an 8.15 ERA and has been hit hard by the trio of Buster Posey, Denard Span and Joe Panik.
Posey is 4-for-9 and Panik is 3-for-8 against Anderson, while Span is 3-for-4 with a home run in his career against the Brewers’ starter.
Though the Giants are 11-21 on the road this season, they’ve won 14 of their past 16 games against Milwaukee, scoring an average of 6.7 runs per game in the 16 contests.
Pregame notes
- Rookie Austin Slater was not in the Giants’ lineup on Sunday or Monday, but the Stanford product will become the 10th different player to start a game in left field for San Francisco this season. Slater is scheduled to to bat eighth on Tuesday, and will become the 12th different player to appear in left field for the Giants this year.
- Third baseman Eduardo Nunez has reached base safely in 20 consecutive games and will hit second on Tuesday after slamming his fourth home run of the season in Monday’s victory.
- Right-fielder Hunter Pence will make his second consecutive start after coming off the disabled list on Sunday in Philadelphia. The Giants optioned rookie Christian Arroyo to AAA Sacramento to make room for Pence. Even though Pence has only played in 39 of the Giants’ 59 games this season, he ranks fourth on the team with 17 runs batted in.
- Closer Mark Melancon needed just six pitches to finish out Monday’s win for the Giants. Melancon didn’t enter the game in a save situation, but the outing did mark his first appearance since May 31.
- The only position player who started Monday’s game not appearing in Tuesday’s lineup is Orlando Calixte, who launched an errant throw to the plate from left field in the first inning of the Giants’ series-opening victory. Calixte’s throw wound up wedged between an advertising sign behind home plate and the protective screen for the sign, which allowed Domingo Santana to score and charged an unearned run to Samardzija’s ledger.
