Final
Giants-Reds Preview
Jun 10, 2010 - 4:13 AMVideo
San Francisco (32-25) at Cincinnati (33-26), 12:35 p.m. EDT
As well as Stephen Strasburg's much-ballyhooed major league debut went earlier this week, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 MLB draft still has plenty of ground to make up on the pitcher selected seven picks later.
Mike Leake hasn't allowed an earned run in his past two starts, and the Cincinnati Reds' straight-to-the-majors star can improve to 6-0 on Thursday afternoon as he faces the visiting San Francisco Giants.
No one expected Leake (5-0, 2.22 ERA) to be the first pitcher from the 2009 draft to be confounding NL hitters, but that's exactly what he's done since becoming the first player in a decade to bypass the minors on his way to the majors.
Strasburg struck out 14 in his highly anticipated debut for Washington on Tuesday, but Leake already has spent two months establishing himself as a major league force. He seems to be getting better as he goes, limiting opponents to two earned runs over his last four starts.
The right-hander pitched six innings in a 2-0, 10-inning loss to Houston on May 30, then beat the Nationals on Saturday by allowing one unearned run in seven innings of a 5-1 win.
"The thing about him is he pitches to the situation," manager Dusty Baker told the Reds' official website. "If he needs a double play, he throws his best double-play pitch. If he needs a strikeout, he'll go for the strikeout. That's tough to teach. Most guys don't learn that until far into their careers."
He's the first Cincinnati rookie to win his first five decisions since Santo Alcala in 1976. No Reds pitcher has ever been undefeated through 11 major league starts.
"There's a little luck involved with wins and losses," Leake said. "I worry about going and keeping the game close."
This will be Leake's first start against San Francisco (32-26) as the Reds try to salvage a split of this four-game set. Cincinnati (34-26) has not lost a series at home since dropping two of three to San Diego from April 23-25.
The Reds had dropped the series' first two games after being shut out by Matt Cain on Tuesday, but the NL's top offense bounced back Wednesday. Leadoff hitter Orlando Cabrera and cleanup hitter Scott Rolen combined for seven hits - five doubles - in a 6-3 win.
Cabrera snapped an 0-for-12 slump with four hits.
"Nobody's worried about Orlando Cabrera," said Rolen, hitting .441 with three homers and 10 RBIs during a nine-game hitting streak. "He plays hard every day."
Cabrera and Rolen helped Cincinnati overcome the first major league homer from Buster Posey, who continues to shine as he gets adjusted to the majors. The Giants' prized rookie is batting .450 and has hit safely in 10 of 11 games.
San Francisco might need a lot of offensive support with Todd Wellemeyer (3-5, 5.72) on the hill. Wellemeyer gave up six runs and nine hits in three innings in Saturday's 6-3 loss at Pittsburgh, falling to 0-4 with a 10.62 ERA in five road starts.
"It's hard to figure out, because he throws the ball so well at home and keeps the ball down," manager Bruce Bochy told the Giants' official website. "He doesn't get a lot of sink on the road."
Wellemeyer is 1-3 with a 5.00 ERA in five starts against Cincinnati, but he's had success against many of the Reds' top hitters. Rolen, Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce and Joey Votto are a combined 4 for 29 with nine strikeouts versus Wellemeyer.
- Reds 7, Giants 6 - FINAL
SAN FRANCISCO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
A Torres rf-lf 3 0 1 0 2 1 0 .296
F Sanchez 2b 5 0 1 1 0 1 5 .329
P Sandoval 3b 5 1 2 0 0 1 1 .283
A Huff lf 3 1 2 2 2 0 0 .300
N Schierholtz rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .280
J Uribe ss 2 1 1 0 3 0 3 .279
B Posey 1b
Jun 10 4:04 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JOEY VOTTO SCORED BRANDON PHILLIPS
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, J VOTTO ON FIRST, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 6
CINCINNATI 7 BOTTOM,8TH
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: S ROLEN (.299, 0-FOR-3, SF, RBI)
Giants 6, Reds 7 Bot 8, 0 OutsJun 10 3:54 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
TRIPLE BY BRANDON PHILLIPS SCORED CHRIS HEISEY AND RAMON
HERNANDEZ
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, B PHILLIPS ON THIRD, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 6
CINCINNATI 6 BOTTOM,8TH
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: A RHODES (-, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Giants 6, Reds 6 Bot 8, 0 OutsJun 10 3:50 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY FREDDY SANCHEZ SCORED AARON ROWAND
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, F SANCHEZ ON FIRST, E WHITESIDE ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 6
CINCINNATI 4 TOP,7TH
DUE UP FOR SAN FRANCISCO: P SANDOVAL (.284, 2-FOR-4)
Giants 6, Reds 4 Top 7, 0 OutsJun 10 3:19 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
ERROR BY SCOTT ROLEN ALLOWED BUSTER POSEY TO SCORE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, P BURRELL ON FIRST, A ROWAND ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 5
CINCINNATI 4 TOP,5TH
DUE UP FOR SAN FRANCISCO: A TORRES (.298, 1-FOR-2, BB)
Giants 5, Reds 4 Top 5, 0 OutsJun 10 2:29 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JAY BRUCE SCORED JOEY VOTTO
SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, J BRUCE ON FIRST, J GOMES ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 4
CINCINNATI 4 BOTTOM,3RD
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: D STUBBS (.245, 0-FOR-1)
Giants 4, Reds 4 Bot 3, 0 OutsJun 10 1:47 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY JONNY GOMES SCORED PAUL JANISH
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, J GOMES ON FIRST, J VOTTO ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 4
CINCINNATI 3 BOTTOM,3RD
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: J BRUCE (.269, 1-FOR-1)
Giants 4, Reds 3 Bot 3, 0 OutsJun 10 1:46 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY SCOTT ROLEN SCORED BRANDON PHILLIPS
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, J VOTTO ON FIRST, P JANISH ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 4
CINCINNATI 2 BOTTOM,3RD
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: J GOMES (.298, 0-FOR-1)
Giants 4, Reds 2 Bot 3, 0 OutsJun 10 1:43 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
BASES LOADED WALK TO JOEY VOTTO SCORED MIKE LEAKE
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, J VOTTO ON FIRST, P JANISH ON SECOND, B
PHILLIPS ON THIRD, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 4
CINCINNATI 1 BOTTOM,3RD
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: S ROLEN (.303, 0-FOR-1)
Giants 4, Reds 1 Bot 3, 0 OutsJun 10 1:42 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY BENGIE MOLINA SCORED JUAN URIBE
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, B MOLINA ON FIRST, B POSEY ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 4
CINCINNATI 0 TOP,3RD
DUE UP FOR SAN FRANCISCO: A ROWAND (.230, 1-FOR-1, HR, RBI)
Giants 4, Reds 0 Top 3, 0 OutsJun 10 1:22 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY AUBREY HUFF (8) TO RIGHT WITH 1 OUT IN THE
3RD OFF MIKE LEAKE.
CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 3, CINCINNATI 0
DUE UP FOR SAN FRANCISCO: J URIBE (.277, 0-FOR-0, BB)
Giants 3, Reds 0 Top 3, 0 OutsJun 10 1:16 PM - NL
AT CINCINNATI - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY AARON ROWAND (6) TO LEFT WITH 1 OUT IN THE
2ND OFF MIKE LEAKE.
CURRENT SCORE: SAN FRANCISCO 2, CINCINNATI 0
DUE UP FOR SAN FRANCISCO: T WELLEMEYER (.111, 0 HR, 0 RBI)
Giants 2, Reds 0 Top 2, 0 OutsJun 10 12:57 PM - NL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
SAN FRANCISCO 1 1 2 0
CINCINNATI 0 0 0 (BOT 1)
CURRENT PITCHERS: SFO - TODD WELLEMEYER
CIN - MIKE LEAKE
DUE UP FOR CINCINNATI: B PHILLIPS (.290, 7 HR, 20 RBI)
P JANISH (.281, 1 HR, 6 RBI)
J VOTTO (.308, 11 HR, 36 RBI)
Giants 1, Reds 0 Bot 1, 0 OutsJun 10 12:43 PM
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