The Cincinnati Reds have been one of baseball’s best road team’s this year. They are currently six games into a nine-game road trip and have won five of them. They open up the final series of their current road trip Monday night when they pay a visit to the San Francisco Giants.
The Cincinnati Reds (72-52, 36-26 away) lead the NL in runs per game (4.96) and batting average (.272). They have ridden the NL’s best offense to a league-best 23-11 record since the All-Star Break, giving them a 3 ½ game lead over St. Louis for first place in the NL Central.
Joey Votto has led the way for the Reds, hitting .387 with six homers and 22 RBIs in his last 22 games. He homered and drove in three runs in Sunday’s 5-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was Cincinnati’s eighth win in their last nine games.
The San Francisco Giants (69-56, 37-23 home) are coming off of a 9-0 loss to St. Louis that dropped them to six games behind NL West-leading San Diego. They are battling with St. Louis and Philadelphia for the NL Wild Card.
Matt Cain (9-10, 3.11 ERA) is one of three pitchers this year to pitch a complete game shutout against the Reds and the only one to do it in Cincinnati. The Giants’ right-hander limited the Reds to seven hits and struck out five in a 3-0 win June 8.
Cincinnati will start Edinson Volquez (3-1, 4.98 ERA). The right-hander is 2-0 with a 5.11 ERA against the Giants, but he has not faced them for nearly two years. He struggled in his last start, giving up five runs over 4 2/3 innings at Arizona on Wednesday.
