Two teams seeking consistency in a tight National League wild-card race open a key three-game weekend series on Friday night when the San Francisco Giants visit the Cincinnati Reds.
The Reds went 13-11 in July but are still treading water in the NL wild-card race. At 52-56, the Reds are eighth, with the top three teams qualifying for the postseason.
The Reds made progress by winning the first two games against the Chicago Cubs, another wild-card contender, before getting drubbed 13-4 on Wednesday in the series finale. Nick Lodolo, 8-4 after starting the season 8-2, struggled badly again, allowing eight runs and 11 hits over 5 2/3 innings, his sixth straight start without a win.
“I’m definitely battling stuff,” Lodolo said. “I feel like I’m getting it back though. My slider was significantly better than last week. Just keep putting it together.”
While trading away their Opening Day starter Frankie Montas and setup reliever Lucas Sims, the Reds retained veteran leader Jonathan India. He has been a spark at the top of the order for the Reds, who have been without young stars Matt McLain (shoulder) and Christian Encarnacion-Strand (hand) for most of the season.
“We were in a better spot last year but in a similar area of where we stand in August,” India said. “I think we put a little too much pressure on ourselves last year, so I think we just need to focus game-by-game and win, rather than thinking about the finish line.”
The Giants stand seventh, just a game ahead of Cincinnati and tied in the loss column with 56 but with two more wins.
San Francisco has also not been able to string together a consistent streak over the first four months.
The Giants managed just three runs in splitting a two-game series with Oakland, winning 1-0 on Wednesday night when Mike Yastrzemski scored on Brett Wisely’s sacrifice fly.
Giants ace Logan Webb pitched a rare complete game Wednesday in San Francisco, allowing just five hits and striking out six in a 106-pitch shutout.
While posting a 6.65 ERA over his first four July starts, the 27-year-old right-hander finished the month strong and has thrown at least seven innings in 12 of his 23 starts, the most in the majors.
The Giants will need to pick it up offensively to stay in the wild-card race, but Wednesday showed that it won’t take much to support their elite pitching down the stretch.
“With our starting pitching all healthy now, you know they’re not going to give up a lot of runs,” Wisely said. “If the bats can kind of get hot and get rolling, I feel like we’ll kind of go on a tear.”
The Reds will send Andrew Abbott (9-7, 3.38 ERA) to the mound in the opener. The left-hander had won his last four decisions before facing the Tampa Bay Rays last Saturday.
Abbott allowed four runs on eight hits over just four innings in Cincinnati’s 4-0 loss. He is 2-0 lifetime against San Francisco in three career starts, sporting a 2.76 ERA.
Fellow southpaw Kyle Harrison (6-4, 3.69) is penciled in to start for the Giants, coming off a dominant, 11-strikeout effort last Friday in an 11-4 home win over the Colorado Rockies. He allowed one run on one hit over 6 1/3 innings. He’s 2-0 in his last three starts, giving up only two runs over 17 innings.
In two career starts against Cincinnati, Harrison is 0-0 with a 2.38 ERA, including a five-inning, three-run start in May.
–Field Level Media