Rodriguez gets the start for Giants in series opener against Reds
Cincinnati Reds (16-22, fifth in the NL Central) vs. San Francisco Giants (16-21, fifth in the NL West)
San Francisco; Friday, 10:15 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Reds: Luis Castillo (3-1, 1.97 ERA, .97 WHIP, 59 strikeouts) Giants: Dereck Rodriguez (3-4, 5.75 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 26 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: San Francisco and Cincinnati are set to begin a three-game series.
The Giants are 7-9 on their home turf. The San Francisco pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 4.54. Jeff Samardzija leads the team with a 3.16 ERA.
The Reds are 7-14 on the road. Cincinnati ranks last in the majors in hitting with a .212 batting average, Jose Iglesias leads the team with an average of .286. This is the first meeting of the season for these two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kevin Pillar leads the Giants with six home runs and is slugging .371. Joe Panik has 12 hits and is batting .000 over the last 10 games for San Francisco.
Iglesias leads the Reds with 32 hits and has 11 RBIs. Derek Dietrich is 8-for-24 with five home runs and 10 RBIs over the last 10 games for Cincinnati.
LAST 10 GAMES: Giants: 5-5, .252 batting average, 7.48 ERA, outscored by 15 runs
Reds: 4-6, .210 batting average, 3.28 ERA, outscored opponents by 12 runs
Giants Injuries: Drew Pomeranz: 10-day IL (lat), Johnny Cueto: 60-day IL (elbow), Buster Posey: 7-day IL (concussion), Erik Kratz: 10-day IL (hamstring).
Reds Injuries: Alex Wood: 10-day IL (back), Scooter Gennett: 60-day IL (groin), Alex Blandino: 10-day IL (knee).
