The San Francisco Giants have surged back to .500 behind tremendous pitching, but turning to Ryan Vogelsong will likely require the lineup to score more.
Following gems from Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner, Vogelsong seeks improvement when the Giants attempt to extend their longest winning streak of the season Tuesday night against the San Diego Padres.
San Francisco (13-13) has followed an eight-game slide by winning 10 of 14, and the pitching staff is coming up big. The Giants have a 1.25 ERA while holding opponents to a .142 average during a four-game winning streak, which continued with Monday's 2-0 victory over the Padres (14-13).
Bumgarner was superb in the opener of this three-game series, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning before leaving with one out in the eighth. That came a day after Lincecum allowed three hits in eight innings of a 5-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
The Giants haven't posted three straight shutouts since a franchise-record four in a row June 25-28, 2012, and giving the ball to Vogelsong (0-2, 9.31 ERA) for his third start in place of the injured Jake Peavy isn't likely to get them closer.
The right-hander is looking to rebound from Wednesday's 7-3 defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers, during which he matched a career high by serving up four homers while allowing six runs in three innings.
"I warmed up fine in the bullpen and felt fine, physically. I just didn't make very good pitches," Vogelsong said. "Not all of them were up, but some were, for sure. They weren't terrible pitches, just not as good as they needed to be."
Vogelsong has a 4.35 ERA while losing his last two starts to the Padres, and he surrendered five runs in 3 2-3 innings of relief while not figuring in the decision of a 10-2 loss at San Diego on April 11.
San Francisco is hitting .275 over the past 14 games but is averaging only 3.5 runs. Angel Pagan leads the Giants with a .350 average, and he's batting .405 over the past 10 games after having two hits and an RBI on Monday. Pagan is a .323 hitter in 17 games against the Padres at AT&T Park.
San Diego scored 26 runs while sweeping a three-game set from Colorado before being shut down by Bumgarner.
Andrew Cashner (1-4, 2.61) would like to see the offense bounce back since he's lost his last two starts while being backed by one total run. The right-hander has allowed five runs with 16 strikeouts in 14 innings over that stretch.
Cashner is 0-2 with a 6.50 ERA in seven games - three starts - at San Francisco. He surrendered six runs and two homers over five innings while not receiving a decision in a 9-8 loss Sept. 25.
Cashner has struggled against Buster Posey, who is 9 for 17 with two homers off him while Nori Aoki is 4 for 8.
His batterymate could be Austin Hedges, who struck out as a pinch-hitter in his major league debut Monday. One of the Padres' top prospects, Hedges hit .324 in 21 games for Triple-A El Paso before being called up.
"It was good to get some of the jitters out of the way. I felt good and I was anxious," Hedges said. "The next at-bat, I'll be a little more disciplined."
