News
Giants sticking mostly with regulars
San Francisco (1-0) vs. Milwaukee (0-1), Thursday, 4:05 p.m. PT
By Chris Haft / MLB.com
04/09/09 4:02 AM ET
SAN FRANCISCO -- As recently as last year, facing a left-hander such as Milwaukee's Manny Parra, who will pitch Thursday's series finale, would have prompted the Giants to make numerous lineup changes. This time, however, manager Bruce Bochy plans on making just one switch -- inserting Rich Aurilia, a right-handed batter, at first base in place of left-handed Travis Ishikawa. Aurilia is 2-for-4 with a double off Parra, who has limited left-handed hitters to a .224 average during his career. Despite announcing this move, Bochy emphasized Wednesday that first base is not the site of a strict platoon. Ishikawa swung well against left-handers during Spring Training, giving Bochy the confidence to use him against some southpaws later in the year. Fred Lewis, a left-handed batter who owns a respectable .275 career average against lefties, will remain in the lineup. So will switch-hitting second baseman Emmanuel Burriss, who might have been a candidate to sit behind Juan Uribe. Bochy insisted that he's looking for opportunities to use his reserves when he can. Giving Aurilia, Uribe, Nate Schierholtz, Andres Torres and Eugenio Velez occasional starts will make them more effective coming off the bench. But with four scheduled off-days in April, Bochy probably will stick with his regular lineup much more often than not. "We want to keep the regulars out there as much as we can to get them in a rhythm and keep them sharp," Bochy said. "That said, I'll still pick my spots and try to get some guys out there, whether it's by double-switching or pinch-hitting, things like that." One way Bochy could use some of his substitutes, particularly the versatile Uribe, would be to employ them as late-inning defensive replacements. But one of the likeliest candidates for removal, third baseman Pablo Sandoval, would be too risky to replace. "You're not only taking out your backup catcher, you're also taking out one of your better bats," Bochy pointed out. Pitching matchupSF: RHP Matt Cain (8-14, 3.76 in 2008)
It's easy to forget that Cain is still only 24, 3 1/2 months younger than Tim Lincecum, yet has already started 104 games. Cain has steadily increased his workload in his three full big league seasons, from 190 2/3 innings in 2006 to an even 200 in 2007 to 217 2/3 last year. That made him the first Giants pitcher to reach 200 innings in back-to-back years since Livan Hernandez (2000-02) and Russ Ortiz (2001-02). Cain has received the second-lowest run support in the Majors in each of the last two seasons. No wonder his record in that span is 15-30. Cain has lost both of his previous starts against Milwaukee, recording a 5.54 ERA. MIL: LHP Manny Parra (10-8, 4.39 in 2008)
Parra is a Northern California native who has pitched extremely well against the Giants in his brief career. He is 2-0 with a 2.95 ERA in five appearances that span 18 1/3 innings. The 26-year-old is looking to bounce back from a somewhat disappointing finish to last season, when he was bounced from the starting rotation in September due to a slide probably related to fatigue. He was 8-2 with a 3.78 ERA in 19 games before the All-Star break and 2-7 with a 4.87 ERA after. The Brewers hope the first-half Parra shows up for the full 2009 season. Tidbits
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Lincecum became the second Cy Young Award winner to last only three innings in his first start the following season. The other was Sandy Koufax, who yielded five runs in three innings to Houston in his 1966 debut. A good omen for Lincecum: Koufax proceeded to finish 27-9 with a 1.73 ERA and won his third consecutive Cy Young. ... The Giants-Brewers series finale will serve as MLB Network's inaugural Thursday Night Baseball broadcast. Matt Vasgersian and Joe Magrane will be behind the microphones. ... Randy Winn has recorded seven consecutive seasons with at least 30 doubles, 10 home runs, 55 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Tickets
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• Friday: Giants (Barry Zito, 10-17, 5.15 in 2008) at Padres (Shawn Hill, 1-5, 5.83 in 2008), 7:05 p.m. PT
• Saturday: Giants (Jonathan Sanchez, 9-12, 5.01 in 2008) at Padres (Jake Peavy, 0-1, 3.86), 7:05 p.m. PT
• Sunday: Giants (Tim Lincecum, 0-0, 9.00) at Padres (Chris Young, 1-0, 3.00), 1:05 p.m. PT
Chris Haft is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
