It’s not just a regular season game when the Seattle Mariners (29-36) and the San Francisco Giants (35-31) play the second of their four-game home-and-away series later tonight. It’s a regular season game with demigod hurlers on the mound, as Felix Hernandez and Madison Bumgarner engage in a high-profile pitching matchup.
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[sc:MLB240banner ]San Francisco’s offense is anything but huge as of late. It stinks and it is making the Giants lag behind even further from National League West leaders, Dodgers. It wasn’t the case, however, in San Francisco’s 6-2 win over the Mariners on Monday—the most runs they’ve put up in six games.
Madison Bumgarner (7-3, 3.16 ERA) wants the Giants’ offense to sustain that kind of performance when he takes the mound of Safeco Field later tonight. Bumgarner is coming off a one-run, seven-inning performance in the Giants’ 1-0 loss to Arizona on June 12. It was still far from his best as he gave up nine hits, but it was a lot better than in any of his previous three outings. During that stretch, MadBum gave up 11 earned runs on 15 hits in 20 plus innings. Nevertheless, the Giants are 4-0 in Bumgarner’s last four road starts.
On offense, Buster Posey (.360) is hitting well recently, going 9-for-25 with four doubles and five RBIs over his last seven games. The 2012 National League MVP is 1-for-3 in his career against Hernandez. Nori Aoki, meanwhile, is doing great atop the order for the Giants, as he is batting .345 (10-of-29) in seven games.
Ever seen a king get humiliated? Because that’s exactly what happened to Felix Hernandez in his most recent start, as the 2010 Cy Young winner got absolutely crushed by the Houston Astros in the Mariners’ 10-0 loss on Friday. Hernandez looks to get back to his winning ways when he takes the mound at Safeco Field, where the M’s are 7-3 in the ace’s last 10 starts.
Against the Astros, Hernandez (9-3, 3.38 ERA) surrendered eight runs on five hits before being mercifully pulled out of the game in just one-third of an inning. It was easily Hernandez’s worst career start. Hernandez has been having issues with his pitching this June, as has given up 16 earned runs in 12 total innings over three starts this month. All told, he’s only 1-2 with an uncharacteristic 12.00 ERA thus far this June.
Hernandez, however, is still Hernandez, who is capable of lighting up the scoreboards with K’s on any given night. The righty is eighth in the American League in strikeouts (82) and sixth in WHIP (1.04). The game against Houston was just the third time this season in which Hernandez gave up more than three earned runs. In the previous two instances, King Felix was able to win his succeeding starts, meaning he should be able to come up with a solid performance later tonight.
Brad Miller, who went 2-for-4 on Monday’s loss to the Giants, is now 6-for-20 (.300) over his last seven games. Nelson Cruz isn’t as prolific, though, as the Mariners top hitter is just 3-for-20 (.150) with seven whiffs.
