Giants @ Astros May 12-13, 2015
submitted by Mr. Happy
The Giants, losers of two of their last four games, invade MMPUS for a brief two-game set against the Good Guys. The Giants are coming in from the City-By-the-Bay, where they split a four game set against the Miami Marlins. The Astros are fresh off of a quick west coast swing through Anaheuim, where the Astros split a four game set with the Halos. Coming into play on May 12, the Giants have hit .257 as a team and have pitched to a 3.63 ERA in compiling their 16-16 mark. On the other hand, the Astros have a team batting average of .228 coming into the series and have pitched to a 3.45 team ERA in getting to their 20-12 record.
Game One May 12, 2015
Chris Heston (2-3 3.38) v. Collin McHugh (4-0 3.23)
The Astros have never seen Mr. Heston, who is a 27 year old right hander, which means that he’ll probably look like Cy Young against the Good Guys, although lefties are hitting a robust .375 against him, while he’s been pretty good against righties, holding them to a .212 batting average. Heston has allowed two more runs per game in his road starts as compared to his home starts, and he’s been much better at night than during the day.
The Gints haven’t seen much of McHugh, with only Nori Aoki, who is 2-6 against McHugh, and Casey McGhee, who is 0-2 against McHugh, having any at-bats against him. Heston gives up some hits (42 in 37.1 frames), because his batting average against is .282, and his WHIP is 1.39. On the other hand, McHugh’s batting average against thus far is .245, and his WHIP is 1.10. I won’t be a bit surprised if this one is a close, low scoring game that comes down to the bullpens.
Game Two May 13, 2015
Tim Hudson (1-3 4.50) v. Brett Oberholtzer (0-0 0.00)
At this stage in his career, Mr. Hudson pitches to contact, as he’s given up 44 hits in 40 innings, his batting average against is .289 and his WHIP is 1.33. Hudson has had some problems keeping the ball in the yard; he’s allowed six taters in 40 innings. With only 19 strikeouts and nine walks in 40 frames, Hudson is usually around the plate, but he doesn’t have swing-and-miss stuff. Current Astros are only 7-29 against Hudson, but the Good Guys are led by Colby Rasmus, who’s 6-14 with two jacks and a two-bagger against Hudson. The Piranha is the only other Astro to have a knock against Hudson. Rasmus is my pick-to-click in this game.
On the other hand, we really don’t know what to expect out of the 25 year old Oberholtzer, who’s never faced any of the Giants players, in his first outing of the season, except that he’s probably on a tight pitch count. Based upon last season, Oberholtzer is a soft-tossing portsider who pitches to contact and who needs to have good command because, at least last season, he lacked a finish-off pitch. Oberholtzer has had some problems with base traffic, surrendering 170 hits in 143.1 innings pitched. He had a disturbingly generous WHIP of 1.35 last season. This one could be a high scoring affair.
Promotions
May 12, 2015-Grape Escape win tasting event; Coca Cola value days
May 13, 2015-Dollar Dog Night
Prediction
Come on now. Did you really expect anything other than a Giants sweep?
Note: This should have been posted early Tuesday afternoon but some email glitch prevented it.