Cardinals at Giants
Tommy Edman hasn't been in the major leagues for very long, but he's doing his part to make sure the St. Louis Cardinals think long and hard about sending him back to the minors. Especially given his clutch hitting in the team's last series, the 24-year-old is almost certain to draw another start Friday as St. Louis attempts to avoid falling back to .500 when it visits the San Francisco Giants for the opener of their three-game set.
Edman, who entered Wednesday's game in Seattle with 35 career at-bats - all of which have come since his promotion on June 8, capped the Cardinals' dramatic five-run ninth inning with a pinch-hit, three-run homer to send them to a 5-2 victory. The Stanford product stepped up in another big spot during Thursday's 5-4 triumph, delivering a go-ahead, two-run single in the seventh inning to highlight a 2-for-4 effort from the leadoff spot. The Giants have spent the bulk of the season in the National League West cellar, but they haven't played anything like a last-place team lately and enter this series riding a season high-tying four-game winning streak behind a resurgent offense. San Francisco fell only three runs shy of scoring in double figures in four straight contests for the first time since 1929 on Wednesday, completing a three-game road sweep of San Diego with a 7-5 victory.
TV: 10:15 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FS Midwest (St. Louis), NBCS Bay Area (San Francisco)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Dakota Hudson (6-4, 3.40 ERA) vs. Giants LH Drew Pomeranz (2-8, 6.25)
Hudson's four-game winning streak and run of eight consecutive quality starts came to a spectacular end Saturday in San Diego as he was pounded for seven runs - one earned - on five hits (two homers) and a walk over 1 2/3 innings. The Mississippi State product finished with a sub-3.00 ERA in May and June, although 13 of the 31 runs he gave up over his 11 turns during that span were unearned. Hudson appeared twice in relief against the Giants last season, working 2 2/3 scoreless innings.
Pomeranz produced another inefficient outing in Saturday's no-decision against Arizona but still managed to hold the opposition without an earned run for the third time in five starts last month after registering seven strikeouts over five scoreless innings. The 30-year-old made 103 pitches in that contest and threw at least 92 in each of his turns in June but failed to last more than five frames every time. Paul Goldschmidt is 6-for-12 with three doubles and a homer versus Pomeranz, who hasn't faced St. Louis since 2013 while with Colorado.
WALK-OFFS
1. Giants 3B Evan Longoria is 8-for-17 with four homers, 10 RBIs and nine runs during the team's winning streak.
2. Cardinals C Matt Wieters has homered in two of his last three at-bats versus left-handers after opening the season 0-for-19 against them.
3. San Francisco 2B Donovan Solano is batting .359 during his 10-game hitting streak, which is the longest active run in the majors and Solano's first since 2012 with Miami.