RECORD: 39-43
STREAK: Lost one
PAST 10 GAMES: 2-8
NEXT: Giants (Tim Lincecum, 4-8, 4.64), at Reds (Homer Bailey, 4-6, 3.88)
PLAYER NOTES:
–C Buster Posey earned NL Player of the Week honors after batting a major-league best .500 and tying for the MLB lead with four home runs and 26 total bases, raising his average from .307 to .322. Posey was back behind the plate Monday night after playing first base the previous two games due to tightness in his legs. Posey went 0-for-3 with a strikeout before being removed from Monday’s game after six innings due to rainy conditions.
–RHP Ryan Vogelsong threw for the first time since fracturing his right pinkie finger on May 20. He threw off flat ground to Giants head trainer Dave Groeschner prior to Monday night’s game at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. “He’s excited he can do some things now,” said Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who added there are no immediate plans for a rehab assignment for Vogelsong, who will throw again Tuesday.
–SS Joaquin Arias, who’s missed five games with a hamstring injury, was available to pinch-hit Monday night but likely would not return to the starting lineup for one or two more days. Arias strained his left hamstring on June 24, when he scored from first base on a double by Andres Torres and hasn’t played since.
–LHP Mike Kickham didn’t allow a baserunner in the first inning in his first three starts. But he struggled mightily in the other frames. Kickham gave up seven earned runs on nine hits in just 2 2/3 innings Monday night, bringing his season total to 16 earned runs allowed in 10 1/3 innings. Kickham dropped to 0-3 with Monday night’s defeat.
–1B Brandon Belt already is approaching career-best power numbers and it’s early July. Belt tied a career high with his ninth home run Monday night, a solo shot off Reds RHP Bronson Arroyo. Belt hit nine homers in 2011, his rookie season. In his past 13 games, he is batting .366. On the current road trip, Belt is hitting .417.
–RHP Tim Lincecum has just six quality starts among his 16 outings. He took the loss in his last start, allowing four runs on 10 hits in one walk with four strikeouts in Wednesday’s 4-2 loss to the Dodgers. Lincecum still is looking to return to the form of 2008-’09 when he won back-to-back Cy Young Awards.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We’re fortunate. I think every team in this division can say that. We’re fortunate to have a month like this and still be somewhat in this thing. It’s early, there’s so much baseball left, but it can get away from you in June. That’s what you have to remind yourself.” — Manager Bruce Bochy, whose team went 10-17 in June yet sits just three games out of first place.