Ty Blach and the San Francisco Giants take on the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. Photo by Jim Ruymen |
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SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco Giants hope to build upon a double dose of good news from Monday night when they host the Cincinnati Reds for the second time in a three-game series Tuesday.
Sandwiching a magnitude-3.5 earthquake that startled the San Francisco Bay Area shortly after Monday's first pitch, the Giants saw ace Madison Bumgarner throw without pain before the game, then watched as his replacement, Chris Stratton, benefitted from a 14-hit attack in a 10-7 victory in the series opener.
Bumgarner, who suffered a broken left hand when hit by a line drive during a spring training game, threw off a mound for the first time since March 25. He threw 20 fastballs before giving a thumbs-up on the exercise.
"I feel good," he assured. "The only thing now is building arm strength and getting the pitch count up. Everything feels completely normal now."
The left-hander is scheduled for two more bullpen sessions this week, after which he's expected to make two injury-rehab starts in the minor leagues next week.
He is eligible to be reinstated from the disabled list on May 25.
After the throwing session, Bumgarner watched as the new-look offensive attack from which he had hoped to benefit this season came up big against a Reds team coming off four straight well-pitched games in a road sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
First-year Giants outfielder Andrew McCutchen recorded his 1,500th career hit among two doubles, and fellow newcomer Evan Longoria had two hits of his own as the Giants put up 10 or more runs for the third time this season.
Left-hander Ty Blach (3-4, 4.20), who has never beaten the Reds, hopes for similar support when he gets the starting call Tuesday. He was on the losing end of a 6-3 score in his last start, Thursday at Philadelphia.
The 27-year-old has started two previous games against Cincinnati, going 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA.
The Reds will counter with righty Tyler Mahle (3-4, 3.86), who got the sweep of the Dodgers rolling in a 4-1 win Thursday. He allowed just one unearned run in five innings.
Mahle has never pitched against the Giants.
The Reds impressed offensively in Monday's loss, getting home runs from Tucker Barnhart, Scott Schebler and Adam Duvall in the 10-7 loss.
Duvall's homer, a three-run shot, came in the ninth inning after he'd taken over for Joey Votto in what was at one point a 10-4 game. The Reds cited a stiff back on a chilly night in San Francisco as the reason for Votto's early exit.
Cincinnati has scored four or more runs in 17 of its last 21 games, during which the Reds have gone 11-10 after a 3-18 start.
One player who did not contribute to the Reds' 13-hit attack Monday was Scooter Gennett, who found out before the game that he'd been named National League Player of the Week for the seven-day period ending Sunday.
Helping the Reds win six straight games, Gennett went 13-for-22 for the week with 10 RBIs and seven runs scored.
