DALLAS — Both the Texas Rangers (68-47, 1st Place AL West) and San Francisco Giants (62-53, 2nd Place NL West) are in the thick of the playoff race as the last 50 games of the season are in full swing, but the narrative on this mid-August series will be focused on Bruce Bochy’s return to the place where he made his name.
The Rangers’ skipper, who managed the Giants to three World Series championships before retiring in 2019, comes back in a different uniform for the first time in four years. In fact, as you may recall, Bochy’s Giants beat Ron Washington’s Rangers in 2010, the first of three rings won during his tenure, the other two being in 2012 and 2014.
This series will undoubtedly be an emotional one for Bochy, who spent 12 of his 26 managerial years by the Bay. But Bochy is at the helm of the Rangers now, and sentimentality won’t prevent him from trying to help his new team capture a fourth series in a row to open the month.
San Francisco at the deadline
Despite holding the second wild card spot in the National League by just 2.5 games with four teams well within striking distance of that mark, the Giants only made one significant move at the trade deadline. Attempting to replace Mike Yastrzemski, who is on the injured list with a strained hamstring, the Giants picked up center fielder A.J. Pollock from the Seattle Mariners.
There were rumors that the Giants were elbowing to put themselves at the forefront to trade for phenom Shohei Ohtani before the Angels took him off the market, but general manager Farhan Zaidi decided to stand pat.
That one move, however, likely equates to nothing, as Pollock, after five games in a Giants uniform, landed on the injured list himself with an oblique strain. Pollock hadn’t recorded a hit or walk in six plate appearances for the Giants. San Francisco’s help is likely to come from returning players, like Thairo Estrada, who returned last week, and Mitch Haniger, who is due to return toward the end of the month.
On the season, San Francisco has been in the bottom three of the National League offensively, ranking dead last with a .209 batting average in July. The Giants are also averaging the lowest runs per game in the NL at just over three per game.
So how are the Giants in the race? They’ve pitched well. SF has been one of the top two clubs in ERA in the NL, with a 3.87 mark. They don’t allow a lot of hits, walks, or homers and their bullpen is as lockdown as they come. If the Rangers are going to get to the Giants, it’s going to have to be early in the game, with their starters just a half-run worse than their bullpen.
It’s going to be a fight for runs for Texas, with the hope that the shutout in Oakland was just an anomaly.
The matchups
Game 116: 9:15 PM CST – RHP Jon Gray (7-5, 3.72 ERA) vs LHP Scott Alexander (6-2, 4.01 ERA)
Game 117: 8:05 PM CST – LHP Andrew Heaney (9-6, 4.14 ERA) vs RHP Alex Cobb (6-3, 3.30 ERA)
Game 118: 3:05 PM CST – RHP Dane Dunning (9-4, 3.21 ERA) vs RHP Logan Webb (9-9, 3.38 ERA)
Corey Seager will also have something of a rivalry homecoming, as the former Los Angeles Dodger faces an old NL West combatant in the Giants. Over his career, Seager has faced the Giants in 76 games, carrying a .270/.335/.425 slash line with 10 homers and 35 RBI against San Francisco. In the 45 games that he played at Oracle Park, his line is just a bit better at .282/.344/.424. Coming off of two days of rest, Seager should be in the lineup, ready to hit against his old foes.
The opener on Friday night will see nine-year veteran reliever Scott Alexander start the game for the Giants. Seeing a reliever or a bullpen game for the Giants isn’t an odd phenomenon this season. This, in fact, will be manager Gabe Kapler’s third bullpen game in a row, after two such games against the Angels. Both of those games were losses and Scott Alexander was the pitcher to get the nod on Tuesday.
Alexander’s outing didn’t go according to plan, however, as he gave up three earned runs without recording an out and took the loss with the Giants unable to overcome the deficit.
Opposing him will be the Rangers’ Jon Gray, himself a former National League West pitcher. Against San Francisco, Gray has pitched in 16 games to a 5.96 ERA. His last start, against the Marlins, wasn’t exactly pretty itself, but even though he gave up five runs – three earned – in 5 ⅓ innings, the Rangers offense helped him out and he was able to earn the win. The last two months have been up and down for Gray but maybe the win, his first since June 2, could help him get back on track.
On Saturday, we will see a true starter for the Giants, as Alex Cobb takes the mound. Cobb, after a decent enough July, hasn’t had as great an August so far. In two games since the month turned, the righty has pitched in 11 ⅓ innings and has given up eight runs on 11 hits. Still, Cobb’s been one of the Giants’ best pitchers, earning an All-Star game appearance earlier this year.
The Rangers will send Andrew Heaney to the hill, coming off two scoreless starts so far in August, having thrown scoreless games against both the White Sox and Marlins. Heaney’s 11-strikeout performance against Chicago likely earned him the final spot in the rotation over Martin Perez after Max Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery came over at the trade deadline. Against a more competitive team in the Giants, Heaney will look to keep his momentum rolling.
Dane Dunning closes out the series on Sunday afternoon for Texas after throwing six innings of three-run ball in Oakland on Monday night. Dunning’s unflappable nature has made him one of the linchpins in the Texas rotation, with his 3.50 ERA good for just outside the top ten in the American League.
San Francisco will send Logan Webb to face Texas in the finale. Webb has been one of the club’s workhorse starters, routinely going 6-7 innings in each of his starts, although last time out, against the Angels, he only managed 5 ⅓ innings. Still, in that game, Webb surrendered only two runs – one earned – without walking anyone in an eventual Giants win.
This series closes out the six-game West Coast swing for Texas. The Rangers won’t return to California again until the final week of the season. The Houston Astros, meanwhile, will be back home this weekend, taking on a Los Angeles Angels team that had been in Wild Card contention, but has now fallen 6.5 games out to reach early desperation mode.
Texas needs to take care of its own business against the Giants, as they can’t count on their division mates from Anaheim to right the ship against Houston.
Do you think the Rangers will take the series in San Francisco in Bruce Bochy’s return? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
