San Francisco (21-16) at Chi. Cubs (16-20) live streaming mlb broadcast audio radio commentry internet baseball tv espn 360 gamecast May 13, 2011. THE STORY: The surging San Francisco Giants have won six in a row and eight of nine to jump into first place in the National League West. The Chicago Cubs are moving in the opposite direction. The Giants and their pitching staff are probably the last thing the Cubs and their struggling offense need to see right now. Chicago will be looking to salvage its homestand when it opens a three-game series against Madison Bumgarner and San Francisco on Friday.
TV: 2:20 p.m. ET, CSBA, CSN
Info Shortcut:
Away: San Francisco [21-16 SU]
Home: Chi. Cubs [16-20 SU]
Game Time: 2:20 PM
Stadium: Wrigley Field
Recent Meetings:
N/A
Team Leaders:
San Francisco:
Home Runs: Pat Burrell (5)
Batting Avg: Ryan Vogelsong (.333)
Stolen Bases: Darren Ford (4)
Chi. Cubs:
Home Runs: Alfonso Soriano (11)
Batting Avg: Reed Johnson (.375)
Stolen Bases: Starlin Castro (4)
ABOUT THE CUBS (16-20): Chicago dropped two of three to the rival St. Louis Cardinals earlier this week, hitting a low point with a 9-1 setback on Thursday afternoon. Casey Coleman was reached for six runs in 4 1/3 innings while the offense failed to get anything going against Jamie Garcia. The series loss to the Cardinals came after the Cubs had dropped a home series to the Cincinnati Reds over the weekend. As a result, they failed to gain any ground against the top two teams in the NL Central. Only once in the six-game span did they score more than four runs, earning an 11-4 victory over St. Louis on Wednesday.
FINAL PITCH: Giants catcher Buster Posey sat out Thursday’s game and was pulled early on Wednesday after taking a pair of foul balls off his facemask. San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said the team was just being cautious by holding him out Thursday and Posey should be fine for the weekend.
ESPN.com Review:
TV: 2:20 p.m. ET, CSBA, CSN
Info Shortcut:
Away: San Francisco [21-16 SU]
Home: Chi. Cubs [16-20 SU]
Game Time: 2:20 PM
Stadium: Wrigley Field
Recent Meetings:
N/A
Team Leaders:
San Francisco:
Home Runs: Pat Burrell (5)
Batting Avg: Ryan Vogelsong (.333)
Stolen Bases: Darren Ford (4)
Chi. Cubs:
Home Runs: Alfonso Soriano (11)
Batting Avg: Reed Johnson (.375)
Stolen Bases: Starlin Castro (4)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cubs RH Ryan Dempster (1-4, 7.20 ERA) vs. Giants LH Madison Bumgarner (0-5, 4.21 ERA). Dempster has recovered from a terrible start to the season, going seven innings in each of his last two starts to lower his ERA over two runs from a high of 9.58. The veteran righthander has never had much success against San Francisco, owning a 4-8 record with a 4.76 ERA in 23 games - 13 starts. Bumgarner has not been as bad as his record would indicate, having received an average of 1.57 runs of support in his seven starts. The 21-year-old has allowed a total of two earned runs in his last three outings, but has failed to earn his first win of the season as San Francisco has scored three runs in that span. Bumgarner has faced the Cubs twice in his career, going 1-0 with a 2.13 ERA.
In Short
2:20 PM ET W/L Units Home Away O/U RL W/L RL Units
San Francisco 21-16 3.53 10-5 11-11 15-19-3 12-25 -13.61
Chi. Cubs 16-20 -5.12 8-12 8-8 20-16 16-20 -6.00
ABOUT THE CUBS (16-20): Chicago dropped two of three to the rival St. Louis Cardinals earlier this week, hitting a low point with a 9-1 setback on Thursday afternoon. Casey Coleman was reached for six runs in 4 1/3 innings while the offense failed to get anything going against Jamie Garcia. The series loss to the Cardinals came after the Cubs had dropped a home series to the Cincinnati Reds over the weekend. As a result, they failed to gain any ground against the top two teams in the NL Central. Only once in the six-game span did they score more than four runs, earning an 11-4 victory over St. Louis on Wednesday.
Recent Trends | In DepthABOUT THE GIANTS (21-16): The calendar's turn to May has altered San Francisco’s fortunes. After an inconsistent first month, the Giants have taken off in the last 10 days, allowing an average of 2.3 runs per game over the last nine games. They are coming off consecutive sweeps of the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks that launched them into first place in the NL West. Matt Cain was the latest San Francisco hurler to put together a strong outing, allowing two runs in 7 2/3 innings to pick up a win over the Diamondbacks on Thursday. Nate Schierholtz provided some offensive support with three hits and an RBI and Andres Torres doubled in a run.
San Francisco:
* Under is 12-3-1 in SF last 16 overall.
* Under is 12-3-1 in SF last 16 on grass.
* Under is 7-2-1 in SF last 10 road games.
Chi. Cubs:
* CHC are 2-7 in their last 9 home games.
* Over is 9-3 in CHC last 12 home games.
* CHC are 8-19 in their last 27 Fri. games.
FINAL PITCH: Giants catcher Buster Posey sat out Thursday’s game and was pulled early on Wednesday after taking a pair of foul balls off his facemask. San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said the team was just being cautious by holding him out Thursday and Posey should be fine for the weekend.
ESPN.com Review:
An undefeated homestand helped propel the San Francisco Giants into sole possession of first place in the NL West for the first time this season. A weekend in Chicago could help them remain at the top.
The Giants look for a seventh consecutive win overall while trying to continue their success against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Friday.
Following a 1-4 start, the reigning World Series champions have climbed back atop the division by one game over Colorado after giving up 10 runs while sweeping a six-game homestand against the Rockies and Arizona.
"That's definitely the homestand we needed," said Matt Cain, who pitched 7 2/3 innings to earn the victory in Thursday's 3-2 win over the Diamondbacks.
The Giants (21-16), winners in eight of nine, will try to continue that success at Wrigley, where they've held a 26-10 scoring advantage while taking four of the last six. San Francisco has won six of eight overall against the Cubs.
The club hopes pitching in Chicago will help Madison Bumgarner (0-5, 4.21 ERA) earn his first win in his eighth start. The left-hander is 1-0 with a 2.13 ERA in two starts against the Cubs, earning the win while striking out nine in seven innings of a 13-0 victory at Wrigley on Sept. 23.
Despite his 2011 record, Bumgarner has allowed two earned runs and struck out 19 over 19 innings during his last three starts. His teammates, however, have totaled three runs in those games.
All those came in a 3-2 win over Colorado on Saturday -- the Giants' first victory in Bumgarner's seven starts. He pitched six shutout innings before allowing the first four batters to reach in the seventh, resulting in two runs -- one earned.
"I don't care if I don't win a game all year if we win; if it works out like that, I don't care," Bumgarner told the Giants' official website.
Andres Torres doubled Thursday and went 4 for 10 with two RBIs in the three-game set with Arizona in his return after missing a month with a strained Achilles' tendon. The center fielder is 6 for 16 with two doubles and two RBIs in his last five games versus Chicago, but 0 for 7 with three strikeouts against scheduled starter Ryan Dempster (1-4, 7.20).
The right-hander is 2-8 with a 5.28 ERA in 13 starts versus San Francisco after allowing nine runs in 1 2/3 innings while losing to Bumgarner in September. Dempster, however, has been solid despite an 0-1 record in his last two outings overall, giving up three runs and 11 hits in 14 innings against the Dodgers and Reds.
He will try to help the Cubs (16-20) bounce back after dropping two of three to both Cincinnati and St. Louis to begin a nine-game homestand.
"This is a tough stretch," manager Mike Quade said. "The frustration for me is that we're inconsistent."
One day after breaking out for an 11-4 win over the Cardinals, Chicago went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position in Thursday's 9-1 loss to St. Louis. The Cubs are among the major league leaders batting .276, but are hitting .227 with runners in scoring position.
"You start pressing on it and it becomes its own monster," said utilityman Jeff Baker, who had three hits Thursday.
Chicago is batting .176 in its last six home games versus San Francisco, but Alfonso Soriano -- hitting .304 with five homers and eight RBIs his last 12 games -- is 3 for 5 with three doubles versus Bumgarner.
