After a loss in game one, the Giants recovered nicely with a win in game two over the red-hot Brewers. All-Star Ryan Vogelsong (isn't that awesome to read? It's awesome to type) didn't last all that long, but he pitched well over five innings and now San Francisco is looking for a series victory this afternoon at AT&T Park.
Madison Bumgarner will be taking the mound for the defending world champions, and the kid is feeling good. He had a win in his last outing and moved to 5-9 on the season with a 3.72 earned run average. Bumgarner lasted eight innings against the Dodgers, striking out seven with no walks, giving up four hits and three runs. San Francisco won that game 5-3. He hasn't lost since June 21st, when he was shelled for eight runs in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins. Since then, he's picked up two wins and three no-decisions, all of which ended up being Giants wins.
He'll be looking for run support from a Giants offense that managed to "outgun" the Brewers with an "offensive onslaught" of four runs in game two. If that imagery isn't working for you, just note that Nate Schierholtz had two RBI, while Aubrey Huff had a sacrifice and Andres Torres added some insurance. Pablo Sandoval has been good of late as well, with hits coming all across the lineup. No one hitter is getting things done in San Francisco, and Bumgarner isn't picky about where his run support comes from. He just wants some.
If the trend continues, Bumgarner hasn't much to worry about this afternoon, as Yovani Gallardo has alternated wins and losses his last six outings, and will be pitching for the Brewers in the finale of the three-game set. Gallardo won his last outing, which consisted of six innings on the mound and three runs (one earned) off of four hits while walking one and fanning six. Before that, he lasted only four innings, giving up six runs off of eleven hits. As noted, alternating wins and losses continued for another four games.
He is 11-6 on the season, but that's a little inflated because the Gallardo of now is different from the Gallardo at the beginning of the season. He's sporting a 3.94 ERA and needs some help from the Brewers. He got it his last time out, when he allowed four runs to the Diamondbacks, his team put up eleven runs of support.
Call us risk-takers, but we'll go ahead and assume eleven runs would be enough to stifle Bumgarner and the Giants. The game is set for 1:05 p.m. on CSN Bay Area.