San Francisco begins a three city road trip on Friday, as they hook up with the Atlanta Braves.
With both teams sitting in pole position at the moment, this series is a potential playoff preview down the line.
With the trip to Atlanta, the Giants will be making their first trip East of the Rocky Mountains this season, but will avoid the southern heat with an early season visit.
San Francisco's previous series: The Giants closed out a 5-1 home stand with a series win against San Diego.
Both the hitting and pitching got back on track, as Tim Hudson and Yusmeiro Petit turned in great starts, combining for just two earned runs in 14.2 innings, and the offense scored 13 runs in the three game set.
At 17-11, the Giants sit atop the NL West standings.
Atlanta's previous series: The Braves fell apart in Miami, getting swept and outscored 23-7 in the series.
The pitching had an uncharacteristic performance, as early season standouts Aaron Harang and Alex Wood were blown up for 16 earned runs in 9.2 innings.
Despite the rough series, Atlanta still owns an impressive 17-10 record, good for first place in the NL East.
San Francisco's probable starters: 5/2 – Tim Lincecum (1-1, 5.96 ERA), 5/3 – Ryan Vogelsong (0-1, 5.40 ERA), 5/4 – Madison Bumgarner (2-3, 3.74 ERA)
Atlanta's probable starters: 5/2 – Mike Minor (season debut), 5/3 – Julio Teheran (2-1, 1.47 ERA), 5/4 – Alex Wood (2-4, 2.93 ERA)
Three things to know:
Mike Minor returns: Minor followed up a strong second half to 2012 with a breakout 2013 season, in which he went 13-9 with a 3.21 ERA, 181 K's and made all 32 scheduled starts.
The 26-year-old lefty has yet to make a start this season though.
After undergoing a urinary tract surgery in December, Minor was unable to stick to his usual offseason throwing program, resulting in shoulder soreness during Spring Training.
Despite the plethora of injuries in the Braves rotation, Atlanta has brought Minor along slowly to this point, but he is ready to debut on Friday night.
It remains to be seen how long of a leash Minor has for his first start, but he has made multiple rehab starts to build up his arm – so there's reason to believe he's cleared to reach around 100 pitches.
When he's out there, expect great control – Minor allowed just 46 walks in 204.2 innings last year – so the Giants will be forced to put the ball in play in order to find success.
However, with Friday being Minor's first start in over seven months, expect some mistakes as he shakes the rust off – and hope the Giants can jump on them early and often.
Pitching, pitching, pitching: As mentioned above, the Braves' rotation has been ravaged by injuries, but you wouldn't know it by how well they've performed so far.
Despite the absence of Kris Medlen, Brandon Beachy and Gavin Floyd – who have all undergone Tommy John Surgery this year – Atlanta owns an MLB-best 2.69 team ERA.
While the Giants won't see Spring Training signings Ervin Santana and Aaron Harang this weekend, they will face three young guns in Minor, Teheran and Wood.
Not only has Atlanta managed success despite their injuries, but they've also built up a surprisingly deep rotation in the process.
Every starter has a sub-3.00 ERA so far, one of whom is David Hale, who is getting bumped from the rotation to make room for Minor, despite owning an ERA of 2.10.
Before Miami, Atlanta had found a way to dominate every offense they've pitched against so far, but the rough showing in South Beach may be a sign that their performance is coming back down to earth.
Expect more 'torture': The Giants have already been involved in 13 one-run games this year (going 7-6), tied for second most in the National League.
Atlanta has been involved in 12 such games, posting a 7-5 record.
With both team's pitching on point, this series should provide more nail-biters.
The difference between a win and a loss could very well come down to which team can provide the clutch hit or pitch late in the contest.
The good news for San Francisco is that they've found success when they need it most – leading MLB with .307 batting average with two outs and runners in scoring position, which has resulted in an also league leading 54 runs in that scenario.
In contrast, Atlanta has been the worst in MLB with a .132 team batting average with two outs and runners in scoring position.
If the Giants can continue that success, it should go a long way to snagging a victory or two this weekend.
Final Note: Buster Posey returns to his home state of Georgia once again, where he has a .400 career batting average at Turner Field.
Posey is still in search of his first home run in Atlanta, but he has been locked in at the plate the previous two trips, going 13-24 with eight RBI's during that span.
For more content by Chris Kersevan, check out his writer’s page and on Twitter @cker7
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