5/23 Gamethread: Giants @ Twins

The San Francisco Giants are currently riding a lovely hot streak. After beating the Minnesota Twins by a score of 4-1 on Monday night, the Giants have won six of their last seven games, all against good teams. A win today would give them their third consecutive series victory, and also bring their winning percentage to .500 for the first time since they were 3-3.

We’re treated to one heck of a pitching matchup in this game.

For the Giants it’s right-hander Alex Cobb, who has been fantastic this year. Cobb will make his 10th start of the year, and is currently 3-1 with an NL-best 1.94 ERA, a 3.15 FIP, and 44 strikeouts to 13 walks in 51 innings. His last outing was a rare bad performance from him, as he gave up five walks and two runs in just 3.1 innings against the Philadelphia Phillies. Prior to that, he had scoreless outings in three of his last four games.

On the other side of things is righty Sonny Gray, who’s been even better. Gray is also making his 10th start of the year, and his numbers are brilliant: he’s 4-0 with an MLB-best 1.64 ERA, an AL-best 2.01 FIP, and 60 strikeouts to 19 walks in 49.1 innings. Like Cobb, he wasn’t his sharpest the last time out, giving up two runs in four innings to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

A very interesting storyline to watch: somehow Gray has not given up a single home run this year, despite facing 203 batters (and playing his home games at Target Field!). The Giants, as we all know, are fairly reliant on the big fly.

Enjoy the game, Giants fans!

Lineups

Giants

1. LaMonte Wade Jr. (L) — 1B — 145 OPS+
2. Thairo Estrada (R) — SS — 128 OPS+
3. J.D. Davis (R) — 3B — 134 OPS+
4. Michael Conforto (L) — RF — 103 OPS+
5. Mitch Haniger (R) — LF — 52 OPS+
6. Mike Yastrzemski (L) — CF — 103 OPS+
7. Blake Sabol (L) — DH — 126 OPS+
8. Patrick Bailey (S) — C — 85 OPS+
9. Brett Wisely (L) — 2B — 20 OPS+

P. Alex Cobb — RHP — 3.15 FIP

Twins

1. Joey Gallo (L) — 1B — 139 OPS+
2. Donovan Solano (R) — 3B — 99 OPS+
3. Alex Kirilloff (L) — RF — 184 OPS+
4. Byron Buxton (R) — DH — 124 OPS+
5. Edouard Julien (L) — 2B — 89 OPS+
6. Kyle Farmer (R) — SS — 119 OPS+
7. Willi Castro (S) — LF — 86 OPS+
8. Christian Vázquez (R) — C — 59 OPS+
9. Michael A. Taylor (R) — CF — 75 OPS+

P. Sonny Gray — RHP — 2.01 FIP

Game #48

Who: San Francisco Giants (23-24) vs. Minnesota Twins (25-23)

Where: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota

When: 4:40 p.m. PT

Regional broadcast: NBC Sports Bay Area (available on fuboTV)

National broadcast: n/a

Radio: KNBR 680 AM/104.5 FM, KSFN 1510 AM