The San Francisco Giants will close out their 2009 campaign
this afternoon in the finale of a three-game series against the NL West-rival
San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
San Francisco hasn't made the postseason since the 2003 campaign and had its
five-game winning streak stopped in Saturday's 2-0 defeat to the Padres. Matt
Cain suffered the loss and allowed both runs and six hits over five innings.
"It was just one of those days they kept fouling balls off," said Cain.
"Sometimes you can't do anything about it. I made some couple of pitches in
the middle of the plate in the first and obviously more of the same in the
third."
Pablo Sandoval and Jesus Guzman each had a hit for San Francisco.
The Giants will send Jonathan Sanchez to the mound on Sunday and he is 8-12
with a 4.27 ERA in 31 games (28 starts) this season. Sanchez has won two
straight starts and is coming off an 8-4 win over Arizona on Tuesday, as he
allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Sanchez, a lefty, is 1-2 in three starts against San Diego this season,
including a perfect game on July 10. He fanned 11 batters in an 8-0 win that
day and owns a 2-2 mark with a 2.68 ERA in 12 career matchups, five of which
have been starts, with the Padres.
San Diego's last playoff appearance was 2006 and it has won three of four and
six of its last nine games. In Saturday's shutout victory over the Giants,
Adrian Gonzalez ended with three hits and an RBI and Chase Headley knocked in
the other run. Gonzalez has hit a career-high 40 homers this season and needs
one more RBI for 100 or more in three straight years.
Wade LeBlanc fired seven shutout frames for the win, while Mike Adams and
Heath Bell each hurled a scoreless inning of relief, with Bell recording his
42nd save in the process.
"I didn't really expect to pitch behind a lot," said LeBlanc. "That's what you
do to be successful."
Cesar Ramos gets the call for the Friars today and he is 0-1 with a 1.74 ERA
in four games (1 start). The Long Beach State product will make his fifth
appearance since being called up from Triple-A Portland on September 8 and did
not record a decision in a 3-1 win over Los Angeles on Tuesday.
The left-hander, who is in the majors for the first time, held the Dodgers to
just a run and four hits in five innings. Ramos has never faced the Giants.
San Diego leads the 2009 season series with San Francisco by a 10-7 count.
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