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Pirates-Giants Preview

Jul 28, 2009 - 6:16 AM By NICOLINO DIBENEDETTO STATS Writer

Pittsburgh (43-56) at San Francisco (53-46), 10:15 p.m. EDT

The San Francisco Giants appear to be addressing their offensive needs in order to regain the wild card lead. Acquiring Ryan Garko could help.

They're expected to have their new first baseman in uniform Tuesday night when they face the Pittsburgh Pirates in the middle game of a series at AT&T Park.

The Giants (53-46) lost two of three at Colorado over the weekend, relinquishing the wild card lead to the Rockies after ending a 3-7 road trip with a 4-2 loss Sunday. San Francisco hit .218 with one homer during the trip, and the club felt the need to immediately bolster the offense.

The Giants acquired Garko from Cleveland on Monday for Class-A left-hander Scott Barnes, considered a top-20 prospect in their organization.

Garko is expected to be available Tuesday, a night after San Francisco beat Pittsburgh 4-2 to move within one game of Colorado in the wild card race. He could start at first base as Travis Ishikawa takes on a more limited role.

"Professional hitter, really punishes left-handed pitching," Giants general manager Brian Sabean said of Garko, who is batting .285 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs in 78 games this year.

"It complements what we're trying to do to develop Ishikawa. The timing was right. He can drive in a run. He can hit a three-run homer."

Garko, who played collegiately for Stanford, has hit .343 this month to raise his average 25 points. He's joining a team that is second-to-last in the NL with 399 runs and 64 homers.

"It's bittersweet," Garko told the Giants' official Web site. "The Indians are the only team I ever played for. It's going to be hard to go, but I'm going to an organization in the Giants that is right in the middle of things, too. So it's mixed emotions."

Barry Zito (6-10, 4.68 ERA) may be hoping Garko can produce quickly.

The left-hander has received no runs of support in four of his last eight starts overall and hasn't not gotten one in three straight outings versus the Pirates (43-56), going 0-3 despite a 3.63 ERA.

Zito's most recent loss to Pittsburgh came July 18, when he allowed two runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings of a 2-0 loss. However, he beat Atlanta five days later by yielding one run and three hits in seven innings of a 5-1 win.

"You can't put added pressure on yourself," Zito said. "You just want to be as good as you can be and let the game come to you."

The Pirates are at the bottom of the NL Central and looking to snap a three-game slide.

They hope to have Freddy Sanchez back in the lineup after the All-Star second baseman was a late scratch Monday due to a lingering sore knee. He's missed two of the last four games.

Sanchez leads Pittsburgh with a .296 average but is in an 0-for-17 slump. He's hitting .366 with a homer and 10 RBIs in 11 career games at San Francisco.

The Pirates will turn to Charlie Morton (2-2, 3.86), who is looking to rebound from one of his shortest outings of the season.

The right-hander surrendered four runs and seven hits in 4 2-3 innings while not getting a decision in an 11-4 loss at Arizona on Thursday. That was in stark contrast to his outing five days earlier against the Giants when he allowed three hits with a season-high six strikeouts in seven innings opposite Zito.