After a rough weekend series against their arch rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the San Francisco Giants now travel to Arizona to take on the Diamondbacks in another NL Western Division series. The Giants are nestled in 3rd place in the division and are fighting for a playoff spot in the National League. The Diamondbacks will likely be on the outside looking in when the playoffs roll around but will continue to try and improve upon last season's dismal finish. The pitching matchup for Monday night will feature Jakob Junis (4-1, 3.06) of the Giants taking on southpaw Tyler Gilbert (0-3, 5.34) of Arizona. Game time is scheduled for 940pm EST.
The San Francisco Giants limp into this series following a 4-game sweep at the hands of their hated rivals, the LA Dodgers. San Francisco is now just a game over .500 at 48-47 and are 15.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West Division. On Sunday, the Giants fell to the Dodgers 7-4 to close out the series. Giants pitching allowed 12 hits including five doubles in the loss. Starter Alex Cobb left the game tied at 4 but the Giants bullpen was not up to the challenge, allowing four hits and three runs in the sixth and seventh innings. The Giants are now 5-5 in their last ten games.
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— SFGiants (@SFGiants) July 24, 2022
The Giants appeared to be hitting their stride heading into the all-star break after winning five of six games to close out the first half. Unfortunately, the series with the first-place Dodgers exposed the Giants for their shortcomings; namely timely hitting and, more importantly, a shaky bullpen. The Giants bullpen ERA is the 8th worst in baseball at 4.25 this season. They have 19 saves as a team but have blown 12 save opportunities thus far this season. With the trade deadline fast approaching, it will be interesting to see which direction the Giants take: buyers or sellers. On the mound to open the series with the Diamondbacks will be right-hander Jakob Junis. Junis has made 10 appearances this season with seven of them being starts. He has two quality starts in his seven starts and has walked 10 batters and struck out 42 in 50 innings thus far this season. This will be Junis' first start since June 10th after spending six weeks on the IL with a hamstring i njury.