Current Series
Giants lead the series 1-0
| Thu 05/24 | WP: Ryan Vogelsong (3 - 2) LP: Anibal Sanchez (2 - 3) | 7 - 14 loss |
San Francisco Giants Friday, May 25, 2012, 7:10 PM EDT Tim Lincecum vs Josh Johnson Partly cloudy. Winds blowing in from center field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 80.
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| Sat 05/26 | 4:10 PM EDT | |
| Sun 05/27 | 1:10 PM EDT | |
The Miami Marlins suffered one of their ugliest losses of the season last night in a 14-7 beatdown by the San Francisco Giants. But tonight is a new night, and the Marlins are hoping that an ace matchup between two pitchers who have struggled to start the year may give the Marlins just the edge they need. It will not be an easy task, however.
Pitching Matchup
| Proj Win% | Proj ERA | FIP | ERA | Marlins | Giants | ERA | FIP | Proj ERA | Proj Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .654 | 2.74 | 2.90 | 4.82 | Johnson | Lincecum | 6.04 | 2.94 | 3.02 | .618 |
In many cases, the tale of Josh Johnson and Tim Lincecum and their early season struggles parallel each other. Johnson had a string of unlucky starts to start the year, but as of late the results have finally begun to match the peripheral performance. After a string of poor starts which saw Johnson lose his velocity and his ability to miss bats, he has climbed back up on the high horse with three straight good starts in May and a set of worthwhile performances since the Philadelphia Phillies start. Johnson will look to continue to pitch well against a typically overmatched Giants offense that hopefully will not bomb the Marlins tonight.
Tim Lincecum has been getting bombed on the field recently despite typically stellar numbers. His velocity has also declined, but it has done so in a much more visible fashion, but it has not seemed to affect his ability to strike out hitters. Despite the well-publicized problems, Lincecum's 24.1 percent strikeout rate is not all that far off from his 24.4 percent rate from last year, though it does represent a career low for him. He has looked worse, but his peripherals are still excellent, so it is all the more puzzling as to why he has pitched so poorly. The Marlins will hope that continues.
Lineup
| Order | Player | Proj wOBA vs. RHP |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jose Reyes | .350 |
| 2 | Omar Infante | .321 |
| 3 | Hanley Ramirez | .351 |
| 4 | Giancarlo Stanton | .373 |
| 5 | Logan Morrison | .364 |
| 6 | Bryan Petersen | .315 |
| 7 | John Buck | .300 |
| 8 | Chris Coghlan | .320 |
It's happened! It's finally happened! After essentially ignoring the pleas of the (small) masses of Marlins fans, Ozzie Guillen has finally returned Giancarlo Stanton to his rightful spot as the cleanup hitter in the Marlins order. Stanton has been on an enormous tear this month, and if there was any player who deserved to hit cleanup for the Fish, it was him, so it is good to see that he is back in that spot. It appears as though the Marlins will be using Bryan Petersen and Chris Coghlan as their other outfielders for the time being while Emilio Bonifacio and Austin Kearns are out with injuries, and their spots in the order look appropriate. This may be the smartest lineup Guillen has built all season long!
Bold Prediction: Marlins def. Giants 5-2