The San Francisco Giants have found themselves in a place they haven't been in nearly two months, tied for first place atop the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks. They've lost five games in a row stemming back to the Reds series over the weekend, and now turn to Ryan Vogelsong to get them back on track and in sole possession of first place once again.
Vogelsong (8-1 2.23 ERA) currently leads the National League in ERA, and will look to keep the D'backs off the base paths as much as possible Wednesday afternoon. He is coming off of a no decision in Cincy over the weekend where he lasted six innings, while allowing three earned runs on seven hits along with two walks and only a single strikeout. Vogey is a different pitcher at home though, sporting a 1.28 ERA and 1.08 WHIP at AT&T in 63 and 1/3 innings pitched so far, along with a 17/40 BB to K ratio.
The Giants will face Jason Marquis (8-5 3.95 ERA) for the first time in a D'back uniform as he makes his debut with his new team this evening. He's gone a disappointing 1-2 in his last three starts, but was more effective than his record would show. Marquis has kept opponents to only seven earned runs over his previous 20 innings (3.15 ERA) along with 12 strikeouts. He ptiched against the Giants back in April when still in D.C., shutting them out in five innings of work en route to a 3-0 Nationals victory.
After Tuesday's loss the Giants are 7-4 against the D-backs so far in 2011, have won 10 of their last 14 against them and are 33-14 versus Arizona since 2009. Let's hope they can get a W today.
First pitch is scheduled for 12:45 pm PT with coverage on CSN Bay Area and KNBR 680 AM.