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Giants get Panda back for NL West clash
By Doug Miller / MLB.com | 6/13/2011 12:32 AM ET
The Giants are slated to get a big boost to their lineup, with third baseman
Pablo Sandoval scheduled to return Tuesday. D-backs rookie Josh Collmenter
will be waiting for him.
A key matchup of the top two teams in the National League West is on tap in
the opener of a three-game series between San Francisco and Arizona at Chase
Field, and there's no lack of intrigue.
For the Giants, it's the sorely needed offensive production and presence of
the man they call "Kung Fu Panda." Sandoval was batting .313 with five homers
and 14 RBIs when he went down with a fractured hamate bone in his right hand,
and he hasn't played since April 29.
Considering that he had dropped weight and started hitting again after a
tough 2010 at the plate, the Giants are eagerly awaiting his re-arrival. And
then there's his production in Phoenix: In 23 career games at Chase Field,
Sandoval has a slash line of .371/.436/.596 with four homers and 18 RBIs in
89 at-bats.
Naturally, Giants skipper Bruce Bochy said Sandoval's return should give the
team a big boost.
"Sure, I think so," Bochy said. "His teammates, really a lot of us, see Pablo
as an impact-type player with how he plays, the energy that he brings. Just
having him around laughing. He pulls for all the guys during the game in the
dugout. It doesn't matter how he's doing."
Sandoval figures to have a large challenge on his hands in Collmenter, the
25-year-old who brings a 4-1 record and 1.12 ERA to this outing. Matt Cain
starts for the Giants.
Collmenter was impressive yet again in his last start, throwing five-plus
innings of shutout ball and surrendering four hits while throwing 102 pitches
against the Pirates.
Even so, he said he would have preferred to have been more economical with
his pitches.
"That's where another out pitch would probably come in handy," Collmenter
said. "They fouled off some good pitches and they were just waiting for me to
make a mistake. Fortunately, I didn't, but definitely a way to get through it
more efficiently would be nice and hopefully get into the sixth or maybe the
seventh."
Giants: Cain continues to carve
Cain will simply try to repeat what he did in his last start, when he
dominated the Washington Nationals, striking out 11 and allowing five hits
while only giving up one run in a complete game, the 13th of his career. Cain
is 8-4 with a 3.15 ERA in his career against Arizona.
‧ San Francisco's starting staff did not receive more than three runs of
support in any game during the recently completed homestand (nine games). The
Giants are 22-5 when they give their starters three or more runs of support
and 15-24 when they score two runs or fewer.
‧ First baseman Aubrey Huff went 3-for-4 with two RBIs on Sunday to snap out
of a 6-for-34 (.176) funk that started the day after he hit three homers on
June 2 at St. Louis.
D-backs: Close call kings
After Sunday's game, the D-backs had 46 of their last 54 games decided by
four runs or less (25-21). Overall, they had 46 games decided by three runs
or less, going 14-8 in one-run decisions, 7-7 in two-run games and 4-6 in
three-run decisions.
‧ Entering Monday, the D-backs had battled until the end in most of their
losses, either stranding the winning or tying run(s) on base or having the
winning or tying run at the plate in 17 of 24 losses decided by four runs or
less.
‧ Entering Monday, outfielder Chris Young is one of 26 players in the Majors
who has not committed an error this season.
Worth noting
‧ The Giants are hitting .188 (12-for-64) with runners in scoring position
over their last nine games.
‧ Entering Monday, the D-backs were 21-13 (.606) vs. teams with a .500 or
better winning percentage and 15-17 (.469) vs. clubs with a sub-.500 mark.
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