© Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
LOS ANGELES — The San Francisco Giants got away with scoring only one run in each of their first two games of the season, but their offensive shortcomings were evident in Saturday’s 5-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now, Chris Stratton will try to put his tough past against the Dodgers behind him, and help the Giants win their opening series in Los Angeles.
Although Stratton owns 6.75 ERA against the Dodgers, that number comes from a very small sample size. He’s 1-1 after three appearances, including two starts, and only 5.1 innings pitched against Los Angeles.
In those three appearances, Stratton has held the Dodgers to a .267 batting average. Only four Dodgers — Yasmani Grandal, Cody Bellinger, Logan Forsythe, and Chase Utley — have hits off Stratton, and all are 1-for-2.
Nonetheless, it’ll be paramount for the Giants’ offense to come alive Sunday evening. Unfortunately for the Giants, that’s something they’ve had trouble doing against Rich Hill, who will start for the Dodgers on Sunday night.
Hill is 5-2 against the Giants in his career with a 2.43 ERA and 60 strikeouts. In three starts against San Francisco last season, he went 2-0 with a 1.62 ERA, holding the Giants to only 13 hits and three runs over 16.2 innings.
The Giants will need Buster Posey, Gorkys Hernandez, and Brandon Crawford to continue their success against Hill to fuel the offense.
Posey, who recorded his first two hits of the season on Saturday night, is 6-for-15 against Hill with only one strikeout in 15 plate appearances. While Hernandez is 4-for-13 with two doubles, Crawford is 5-for-11 against Hill in 13 plate appearances.
Joe Panik (1-for-2), Brandon Belt (4-for-8), and Nick Hundley (1-for-3) have also found success against Hill in their careers, but in a very small sample size.
Here’s a full breakdown of how each team has fared against tonight’s respective starters via our friends at Looker.
Keaton Moore covers the Giants for KNBR.com, follow Keaton on Twitter at @KeatonAMoore
