Tyler Mahle of the San Francisco Giants will return to his old home Wednesday night when he starts on the mound against the Reds in Cincinnati in the second game of a three-game series.
Mahle, a right-hander, spent the first five-plus seasons of his career in Cincinnati, and after stints with the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers, he signed with the Giants in the offseason.
He will be asked to help stop the Giants’ three-game losing streak, but he might need to be nearly perfect to do it because San Francisco has only five runs during the skid.
Solo home runs by Spencer Steer and Sal Stewart provided all the Cincinnati offense on Tuesday night in a 2-1 victory.
Four Reds pitchers, led by starter Brady Singer, combined on a seven-hitter that included an 0-for-3 performance by Rafael Devers, who saw his season batting average drop to .212.
The slugger brought a five-game hitting streak into the series, but five of the six hits during that run were singles. A three-time All-Star who averaged 32.2 homers over the past five seasons, Devers has gone deep just twice in 17 games this season.
“He’s competing. He’s probably a little extra frustrated at times. He’s trying,” Giants manager Tony Vitello told reporters after the Tuesday defeat. “There’s maybe a little extra body in his swing.
“He’s a smart guy. He knows his swing better than anybody. He’s got such a pretty swing. Really handsy. At times, there are times when hands get gobbled up by a little extra body in there. Sometimes extra body comes from extra effort.”
On Wednesday, Devers and the Giants will face Reds right-hander Rhett Lowder (1-1, 3.31 ERA), who started the season strongly with 11 innings of six-hit, two-run ball in his team’s wins over the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers before getting roughed up on the road by the Miami Marlins last Thursday. He allowed eight hits and five runs (four earned) over 5 1/3 innings in an 8-1 loss.
The 24-year-old has pitched in just nine games in his career, none against the Giants.
Mahle (0-2, 4.30 ERA) made his first 113 starts for the Reds, who drafted him out of a Southern California high school in the seventh round in 2013. He went 31-38 with a 4.35 ERA with Cincinnati before getting dealt to the Minnesota Twins in August 2002 for three players, including Steer.
Mahle, 31, has never faced the Reds, the only major league team he hasn’t pitched against. He’s very familiar with the Great American Ball Park, however, having gone 13-18 there with a 5.02 ERA in 55 career games (54 starts).
After allowing a combined seven runs and 13 hits in nine innings in losses to the New York Yankees and New York Mets, Mahle shut out the Philadelphia Phillies on three hits over 5 2/3 innings in his last start. He did not get a decision in a 5-0 win over the Phillies last Wednesday, as all five Giants runs came after he left the game.
After walking four and throwing 94 pitches his last time out, the veteran said he can improve on his return to Cincinnati.
“We want to go deep in games whatever the pitch count is. That’s the goal,” he told reporters after failing to complete six innings for the third straight time in a Giants uniform. “Six innings is the baseline we should be striving for.”
– Field Level Media
