The San Francisco Giants (61-51) head to the Midwest for a pair of three-game series. First up, it's the Milwaukee Brewers (61-51), who are trying to get a bad month of July out of their system.
Milwaukee won just nine games last month, and didn't open up August in great fashion with losing two out of three to the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend. After having the NL's best record for most of the season, they now cling to a one-game lead over last weekend's foe and will hope to extend it over the course of this week.
On the flipside, San Francisco currently has a 1.5 game deficit against the Los Angeles Dodgers and would like to make up the deficit. The Giants won three out of four against the New York Mets over the weekend, and it could have very well been a sweep if Jake Peavy didn't lose the gas in his no-hitter between both starters through the first six innings.
That loss featured 10 hits in the final three innings between the clubs. The Mets put up four runs in total in the bottom of the seventh as the inning got away from Peavy and the Giants. SF was able to tack on two runs in the ensuing half inning, but they were unable to mount a comeback.
Outside of Peavy's glitch in that game, the Giants' starting pitchers were strong throughout the first three games of the series against the Mets, and they hope to bring the same stuff against a Milwaukee team that can slug the ball. There is only one team in the MLB that has five players that have reeled in over 50 RBIs, and it's the Brewers: Ryan Braun, Khris Davis, Carlos Gomez, Jonathan Lucroy, and Amaris Ramirez.
The good news? San Francisco will start off the series with their most reliable starter, Tim Lincecum, while Milwaukee will go with rookie Jimmy Nelson who has struggled in his last three starts (0-2, 5.71 ERA). Buster Posey will likely have the night off and be back in action on Wednesday. Plus, there's no Dan Uggla in sight after rejecting the offer to head to Triple-A and was released from the team.
Even better news? Angel Pagan continues his journey back to the Giants as he will play for the Fresno Grizzlies again tonight. He may not make the trek to Milwaukee, but fingers are crossed that he'll make it against the Kansas City Royals.
Probable starters / TV schedule
- Tuesday: Tim Lincecum (R, 9-7, 4.21) vs Jimmy Nelson (R, 1-2, 4.30)
First pitch: 8:10 PM ET | TV: CSN Bay Area, FOX Sports Milwaukee - Wednesday: Ryan Vogelsong (R, 6-8, 3.88) vs Yovani Gallardo (R, 6-5, 3.38)
First pitch: 8:10 PM ET | TV: CSN Bay Area, FOX Sports Milwaukee - Thursday: Jake Peavy (R, 0-2, 4.73) vs Wily Peralta (R, 13-6, 3.52)
First pitch: 2:10 PM ET | TV: CSN Bay Area, FOX Sports Milwaukee, MLB Network
