Two of the best teams in baseball record-wise are the San Francisco Giants and the Cincinnati Reds and they will clash at Oracle Park starting tonight. The Giants have a stellar 3.04 ERA as a pitching staff after former Red Anthony DeSclafani threw 6 shutout innings in yesterday’s victory over Colorado. Johnny Cueto found the fountain of youth and is also dominating while Kevin Gausman looks to be the Ace the Giants hoped he would be. Meanwhile, although the offense has not been as strong as hoped, the Giants have been crushing home runs with 14 so far. Only the Reds themselves have more at 16.
Game 1: Wade Miley (CIN) vs. Aaron Sanchez (SF)
Speaking of the Reds, their pitching has also been impressive with Wade Miley throwing 6 shutout innings in his last start and preparing to start tonight’s series opener in San Francisco. He’ll face Aaron Sanchez, who threw five innings of one-run ball in his Giants debut against the Padres. Only Nick Castellanos has had any significant experience against Sanchez and he is 3-for-15 in his career with no extra base hits and 4 strikeouts. Against Wade Miley, on the other hand, several Giants have plenty of experience. Buster Posey has some ownage and is 10-for-26 with a home run. Evan Longoria has 3 homers in just 33 at bats while is 5-for-10 with a bomb against Miley. Only Crawford has struggled against the lefty and is 4-for-21 but with just 2 strikeouts.
This should be a great matchup with two arms that looked solid in their season openers but two lineups that have been crushing home runs at a ridiculous pace. Miley has the experience but Sanchez, a first round pick, is looking to finally break through as a legit big league starter. I’ll give the Reds a slight edge in this first game.
Edge: Reds
Game 2: Luis Castillo (CIN) vs. Kevin Gausman (SF)
Game 2 will be a clash of two aces – Luis Castillo for the Reds against Kevin Gasuman for the Giants. Castillo struggled mightily in his first start against St. Louis but recovered against Pittbsburgh, throwing seven shutout innings. Kevin Gausman looked dominant in both of his starts and will look to pick up his first win of the year on Tuesday. The Reds have had some success against Gausman, especially Joey Votto and Mike Moustakas. However, Gausman currently looks as good as he has in his entire career.
As for the Giants against Castillo, no one has 10 at at bats against him and the guy with the most, Brandon Belt, is 0 for 9. Posey and Flores are each hitting .333 with a homer against Castillo in limited opportunities. The most likely scenario is a pitching duel where the first team to strike offensively will have the advantage. Each team have some nice bullpen options but its not necessarily a strength for either team either. This game and series should be absolutely thrilling. I have full confidence that Gausman will be fantastic in this one and the Giants offense will finally give him the run support he deserves and the bullpen will finally not blow it for him.
Edge: Giants
Game 3: Tyler Mahle (CIN) vs. Johnny Cueto (CIN)
Game 3 will feature a former Red in Johnny Cueto who proved he can still be elite after an amazing performance against the Rockies. Tyler Mahle, a California native, will start for the Reds and in 2 starts this season, he is 1-0 with 15 strikeouts in 9 innings and an ERA of 2. In other words, this is also a game you might want to tune into. Against Cueto, Mike Moustakas seems to have a level of comfort after going 4-for-8 against him with a homer and 2 doubles. Nick Castellanos, on the other hand, is 1-for-11 with a single. The hitter Mahle might want to be careful of is Brandon Belt, who has 2 home runs in 2 at bats against him. Because Mahle has struggled somewhat with walks and getting deep into games as opposed to Cueto, who just pitched 8 2/3rds in his last start and looks to be on top of his game right now, I’ll take the Giants in this one as well.
Edge: Giants
