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Cain, Giants seek to rebound against Padres

Apr 29, 2014 - 2:53 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Cain hopes to pitch himself and the San Francisco Giants into the win column when he makes his sixth start of the season Tuesday in the middle portion of a three-game series versus the San Diego Padres.

The Giants had a four-game winning streak stopped with Monday's 6-4 loss to the Padres and are just 1-4 in Cain's five starts. After losing three straight starts to fall to 0-3, Cain did not record a decision in last Wednesday's 12-10 win at Colorado and was touched for seven runs on 10 hits in six innings.

Cain's earned run average is now 4.35 in the worst start of his career. The Giants lost each of Cain's first five starts last season and he didn't taste victory until May 5 (7th start).

In 32 career starts against the Padres, the right-handed Cain has a 7-12 record to go along with a 3.04 earned run average. Cain lost to San Diego on April 18, when he gave up an unearned run in seven innings of a 2-1 defeat.

Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner was dealt the loss in the recent matchup with the Padres and permitted five runs -- four earned -- and seven hits in five innings. Padres catcher Rene Rivera had five RBI off of Bumgarner and belted a three-run homer in the fifth inning.

Bumgarner struck out five and walked four batters.

"He's made a few more mistakes than we're accustomed to," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Bumgarner. "He did a good job getting ahead tonight, just left some balls out over the plate. (He) made a few more mistakes than he normally does."

Brandon Hicks homered and Michael Morse ended with three hits and two runs batted in for San Francisco. The Giants have hit at least one home run in each of their last six games (11 total) and fell to 5-10 when failing to score first. They are 10-1 when reaching the scoreboard first.

The Padres have won two in a row and improved to 4-4 on a 10-game road trip.

Rivera was the star of the game in Monday's opener with the Giants and also doubled in his big night. He collected his first five RBI of the season.

"We needed a game like that from one of our guys," Padres manager Bud Black said of Rivera. "That was a hard fought game on both sides. Again, great game from (Rivera)."

Chris Denorfia went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts and entered the game hitting an MLB-best .415 (17-for-41) since April 16. Everth Cabrera has hit safely in 21 of his 26 games this season.

Padres starting pitcher Tyson Ross earned the win even though he yielded four runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. Ross evened his mark at 3-3, while closer Huston Street nailed down his 10th save with two K's in the ninth. Street is second in saves, two behind Francisco Rodriguez of Milwaukee.

The Friars have played 18 games decided by two runs or less, going 11-7 in that stretch, and will hand the ball to Eric Stults Tuesday night. Stults is 1-2 in five starts with a 4.15 ERA and posted a no-decision in last Thursday's 4-3 win at Washington, as he gave up two runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings.

San Diego has won each of Stults' last three outings after losing the first two. Stults was coming off a win over San Francisco on April 19 and limited the Giants to a run and three hits in six innings of a 3-1 victory.

In 18 career meetings (16 starts) with the Giants, the left-hander has a 7-4 record and a 4.97 ERA. Stults is 0-2 in three road starts this season.

The Padres won two out of three at home against the Giants earlier this month. The teams combined for only 14 runs in that series. However, San Francisco has not lost a home series to the Padres since 2010.