A quick thought before jumping into the preview, how big of a drop off in attendance will there be from Tuesday's game to Wednesday's game. I would say conservatively that there are 70% of the people there for the second game as came to opening day.
Giants | Padres |
Tuesday, April 5, 3:35 PM | |
7-6, 3.00 ERA, 3.85 tRA (2010) | 6-7, 5.32 ERA, 5.28 tRA (2010) |
Bumgarner had an excellent rookie season and was even better in the playoffs. The only questions surrounding him revolve around his jump in innings and how it will affect him. I am inclined to believe that it should be minimal as he has the body that scouts covet in pitchers. I am expecting Bumgarner to continue his growth from last season and fill out the Giants dominate pitching staff. | Harang did not pitch well in 2010 and fled Cincinnati for the spacious outfield of Petco Park to try to revive his career. It may work out for him but I would still worry about this spot if I were a Padre fan. Harang is only 4 years removed from an excellent season but since then his peripherals have moved in the wrong direction. |
Wednesday, April 6, 3:35 PM | |
0-1, 0.00 ERA, 3.52 tRA | 0-0, 3.00 ERA, 5.49 tRA |
Lincecum looked sharp in his 2011 debut but was simply out pitched by Clayton Kershaw. He gave up an unearned run that ended up making him the loser. There were lots of good signs however with his velocity up in the 93-94 range so it will be interesting if it was just a one game blip or a sign of regained strength. | Stauffer was the Padres opening day stand in for Mat Latos and pitched pretty good against the Cardinals. He is a pitch to contact guy and allows a fair amount of base runners and if he can get 3 double plays a game watch out if not teams will score a good amount off him. On paper he doesn’t match up as Lincecum’s equal. |
The Padres played the Cardinals tough and took 2 out 3 from them on the road, while the Giants defense cost them a split and possibly a series victory. This could make the Giants open series woes a little deeper because the Giants absolutely sucked in the early season trips down south last year.
Even with the bad history I feel pretty good coming in. The pitching match ups heavily favor the Giants and the Padres should have trouble scoring runs all season. The big key will be for the Giants to forget the troubles that they encountered in LA and just relax and not try to do too much. Talent wise they should win this series and give themselves a shot at coming home with a .500 road trip.
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