With Los Angeles Dodgers losing to the Cincinnati Reds 6-0 Saturday afternoon the magic number for San Francisco has dropped to one just hours before first pitch by the bay. Tonight the pitching matchups will entail two young promising left-handers for both sides. The San Diego Padres will send 25-year-old Andrew Werner (2-1, 3.68) to the mound. The Giants will counter with Madison Bumgarner (15-10, 3.26).
Even though playoff implications are on the line for the Giants, they have managed to stay sane. Players and coaches have stayed focused even with the other impacting games going around the league.
“Well, there’s no scores up there,” manager Bruce Bochy joked when asked about the scoreboard. Apparently, the scoreboard crew in right field was yet to arrive.
Bumgarner aims to make it back-to-back victories against division rivals in order to put an end to the rough skid he had before. The young lefty had allowed 4 earned runs or more in the previous four starts before the winning is last outing.
Looking to stay hot, the Giants have a chance to make it easier on themselves for the remainder of the regular season Saturday night. If they continue the trend of scoring 5 runs or more dating back to Tuesday it shouldn’t be a problem behind the solid lefty.
(Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained first-hand.)
