• Preview
• Bleachers

Giants-Brewers Preview

Jul 6, 2010 - 12:56 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

San Francisco (41-40) at Milwaukee (37-45), 8:10 p.m. EDT

The San Francisco Giants have been encouraged by Madison Bumgarner's first two outings. Now, they hope they're ready to help get their prized rookie left-hander a win.

The Giants' struggling offense came to life in their opener against the Milwaukee Brewers, and Bumgarner would appreciate some support as he tries to help his team win consecutive games for the first time in two weeks Tuesday night.

Bumgarner (0-2, 4.50 ERA) was expected to be the next in a long line of excellent San Francisco arms, and after making one start in 2009, he was called up June 26 to join the rotation for good.

He's shown some solid signs even as his offense has provided minimal help. Bumgarner gave up four runs over seven innings in a 4-2 loss to Boston on the day of his promotion, then made it through seven and surrendered three earned runs in a 7-3 loss at Colorado on Thursday.

"The kid did well," manager Bruce Bochy said. "He has a knack for adjusting."

One adjustment that Bumgarner has made is adding a slider. When San Francisco (42-40) sent him down after spring training, the team's top pick from the 2007 draft developed the pitch to pair with his already-effective fastball.

"It turned out to be a pretty good pitch for me," Bumgarner told the Giants' official website. "It's my best offspeed pitch now. That's one reason I'm glad I got sent to Triple-A. Some good things came out of it."

It seems something positive came out of San Francisco's trip to Colorado even though it dropped three of four. The Giants lost Sunday's finale 4-3 in 15 innings but bounced back to beat the Brewers 6-1 on Monday behind three hits from Aubrey Huff and a solo homer from Buster Posey.

"After all the losses we had, and especially the game we had last night, it's pretty tough to keep battling," second baseman Freddy Sanchez said. "We battled the whole game and finally we got the win."

While San Francisco tries to win consecutive games for the first time since June 20-22, Randy Wolf (6-7, 4.70) looks to post back-to-back victories for the first time this season. He gave up a run and four hits over 6 1-3 innings in a 4-1 win at St. Louis on Thursday.

Wolf, who came in second in the majors with 50 walks, issued one after tinkering with his delivery following his previous start.

"My command was better, obviously," Wolf said. "I think that little adjustment definitely helped. It was something really small. It had to do with closing my hips earlier in my delivery."

The Brewers (37-46) won't want Wolf to adjust anything he's done over the past two years against San Francisco. The left-hander is 3-0 with a 1.85 ERA in six starts versus the Giants since 2008 while pitching for San Diego, Houston and Los Angeles.

He will, however, need to pitch carefully to Andres Torres. San Francisco's leadoff hitter took Wolf deep twice Sept. 20, while Wolf was pitching for the Dodgers.

Bumgarner's quest for his first victory could be easier if he can find a way to retire Corey Hart. Milwaukee's outfielder extended his hitting streak to 20 games Monday - two shy of his career high - and he's batting .361 (30 for 83) with seven homers against left-handers.