Pomeranz seeks to give Padres a lift in San Francisco
The San Francisco Giants could use a boost following another defeat on one of their longest homestands of the season.
Madison Bumgarner will try to provide that with another stellar performance against the San Diego Padres at AT&T Park on Monday night.
The Giants (9-11) dropped to 2-5 on a 10-game homestand with Sunday's 5-4 defeat to Miami but closes it out by facing a team they've outscored 46-12 in winning the last five matchups in San Francisco.
Bumgarner was responsible for an 8-0 victory Sept. 12, when he took a perfect game into the eighth inning. Melvin Upton Jr.'s pinch-hit single was the only thing that kept him from a historic performance.
The left-hander was 2-0 with a 0.76 ERA in three home starts against the Padres in 2015, and is 5-1 with a 2.69 ERA in 12 lifetime matchups in San Francisco.
Bumgarner (1-2, 3.91 ERA) has a 1.72 ERA in his last 17 home starts but is winless in two this season. He has also been denied a victory in his past three overall outings while receiving a combined six runs of support and was outdueled by Arizona's Zack Greinke in a 2-1 defeat Wednesday.
The performance was a nice bounce back from a 7-3 defeat at the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 15 in which he gave up seven runs - four earned - in five-plus innings.
"I still don't feel like I'm where I want to be but it was definitely better, for sure," he said after striking out eight in seven innings Wednesday.
The Padres (7-12) are coming off a pair of meltdowns from their relievers in back-to-back home losses to St. Louis. San Diego's bullpen gave up 10 runs Saturday in an 11-2 defeat and another five in an 8-5 loss Sunday.
"We've got plenty of capable pieces, just the last couple of days have been rough for us," said manager Andy Green, whose team had previously won four of six.
Drew Pomeranz (2-1, 2.04) will seek to give his team a lift by producing another superb outing after an 8-2 win against Pittsburgh on Wednesday. He gave up one unearned run in 6 2/3 innings while fanning a career-high 10.
Pomeranz, a reliever for much of last season with Oakland, has 25 strikeouts in 17 2/3 innings and a 1.13 WHIP in his first three games for the Padres.
"From the very beginning, when we acquired him, starting him was like an end-game goal for us. (We were) hoping that we could get to this point where he rose up and took it. And that's what he did," Green told MLB's official website.
Pomeranz is 1-2 with a 5.95 ERA in four career starts against San Francisco with the most recent June 30, 2013. Giants catcher Buster Posey, hitting .417 in his past 11 home games versus San Diego, is 4 for 5 with two home runs lifetime against the left-hander.
Padres first baseman Wil Myers, batting .441 in his last eight games, is a career .224 hitter against the Giants and went 0 for 14 in his final five matchups last season. Myers is 0 for 11 lifetime against Bumgarner.
Matt Kemp hit .111 with 11 strikeouts in 36 at-bats in nine games in San Francisco in 2015. He is batting .170 with 14 strikeouts in 47 at-bats against Bumgarner, his worst showing versus any of the 20 pitchers he's faced 30 or more times.
Jon Jay is 10 for 20 with four doubles against Bumgarner, including the postseason.
