One team struggling on the road encounters one that has fared poorly at home when the San Francisco Giants visit the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night to tip off a three-game series.
The Giants have lost three of their last four on the road and the Reds four of their last five at home as the clubs prepare to go head-to-head for the first time this season.
San Francisco struggled offensively over the weekend in losing a pair at Baltimore after opening the series with a 6-3 win. The Orioles swept the Saturday and Sunday games by identical 6-2 scores.
The Giants managed just one home run in the two losses, a solo shot by Casey Schmitt in the ninth inning Sunday with the visitors five runs down. San Francisco began the week with the fewest home runs in the majors, having hit just eight in its first 16 games.
The good news for the Giants is that they’ve had no problem scoring the last two times Robbie Ray (2-1, 2.08 ERA) was on the mound. Not that he’s needed much help, having limited the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies to a total of two runs and six hits in 12 innings, but the San Francisco offense made it a comfortable pitching experience by totaling 13 runs in 7-2 and 6-0 wins, respectively.
All three of Ray’s starts, including a 3-0 defeat in the second game of the season, have come at home.
The 34-year-old left-hander will be making his eighth career start against the Reds, having gone 3-2 with a 4.42 ERA. He has served up six home runs in six career starts at the Great American Ball Park but managed to post a 3-1 record in those games.
The Giants sat one of their top hitters, Luis Arraez, with a right wrist contusion Sunday. If the injury forces Schmitt to play second base this series, it might give San Francisco manager Tony Vitello a reason to play both his catchers — Patrick Bailey and Daniel Susac — at the same time.
“There’s been games where we’ve really swung the bats well, and there’s been games where we’re searching for runs,” Vitello noted to reporters Sunday, a game in which Susac went 1-for-3 and yet saw his average remain at a healthy .636. “So if you’re searching and you’ve got a guy who can swing it a little bit …”
San Francisco’s hitters will be up against Reds right-hander Brady Singer (0-1, 7.71) in the series opener. The 29-year-old has been torched for 21 hits and 11 runs (10 earned) in 11 2/3 innings in his first three starts.
He hasn’t had much success in three career starts against the Giants, going 0-1 with a 7.16 ERA.
Singer has pitched just once at home this season, going four innings in a 6-5, 11-inning win. It was part of a 2-1 home-series win over the Boston Red Sox, a level of success the Reds have not duplicated while losing home sets to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Angels.
The Reds also might have a surprise addition to the batting lineup Tuesday with Rece Hinds having been promoted from Triple-A Louisville. Cincinnati created a roster spot by demoting Noelvi Marte, whose 0-for-4 performance in Sunday’s 9-6 loss to the Angels left him at .138.
“He’s just having a tough time,” Reds manager Terry Francona explained to reporters about Marte. “He looks like he’s trying to hit everything.”
–Field Level Media
