Samardzija expected to start as San Francisco hosts Cincinnati
Cincinnati Reds (17-22, fifth in the NL Central) vs. San Francisco Giants (16-22, fifth in the NL West)
San Francisco; Saturday, 9 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Reds: Anthony DeSclafani (2-1, 3.65 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 44 strikeouts) Giants: Jeff Samardzija (2-1, 3.16 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 29 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: San Francisco and Cincinnati will square off at Oracle Park Saturday.
The Giants are 7-10 on their home turf. San Francisco is slugging .363 as a unit. Stephen Vogt leads the club with a .867 slugging percentage.
The Reds are 8-14 in road games. Cincinnati ranks last in the league in hitting with a .212 batting average, Jose Iglesias leads the team with an average of .282. The Reds won the last meeting 7-0. Luis Castillo earned his fourth victory and Yasiel Puig went 2-for-5 with two RBIs for Cincinnati. Dereck Rodriguez took his fifth loss for San Francisco.
TOP PERFORMERS: Steven Duggar leads the Giants with 35 hits and is batting .252. Vogt is 7-for-15 with three doubles, a home run and three RBIs over the last 10 games for San Francisco.
Eugenio Suarez leads the Reds with 19 extra base hits and is slugging .547. Derek Dietrich is 8-for-26 with five home runs and 10 RBIs over the last 10 games for Cincinnati.
LAST 10 GAMES: Giants: 5-5, .249 batting average, 6.88 ERA, outscored by 16 runs
Reds: 5-5, .212 batting average, 2.90 ERA, outscored opponents by 20 runs
Giants Injuries: Drew Pomeranz: 10-day IL (lat), Johnny Cueto: 60-day IL (elbow), Buster Posey: 7-day IL (concussion), Erik Kratz: 10-day IL (hamstring).
Reds Injuries: Alex Wood: 10-day IL (back), Scooter Gennett: 60-day IL (groin), Alex Blandino: 10-day IL (knee).
