SF Giants lineup: Giants play for the .500 road trip

After a disappointing loss in Atlanta last night behind Sergio Romo’s ninth-inning meltdown, the Giants still have a chance to break even on their current eight-game road trip. They’ll have to do it against one of the hottest young pitchers in baseball, Braves’ right-hander Julio Teheran.

Getting of to a rough start in his first full major-league season by giving up 4+ runs in three straight outings, Teheran has done that in an outing just once in his last nine tries while posting a 2.66 ERA and holding opponents to a .651 OPS. He faces a San Francisco lineup that is still struggling to get its best players on the field.

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SF Giants roster moves: Pill, Ramirez sent down; Dunning, Sanchez called up

The San Francisco Giants have designated first baseman Brett Pill and relief pitcher Ramon Ramirez for assignment, according to Alex Pavlovic of the San Jose Mercury News. They were sent down to make room for relief pitcher Jake Dunning and returning catcher Hector Sanchez. Neither player is expected to arrive by game time Thursday, as they are scheduled to land just 3o minutes before the first pitch.

Dunning’s first appearance will be his major-league debut, having been drafted by the Giants in the 33rd round in 2009. He was a shortstop at Indiana, having converted to relief pitching in his second season in the minors. Through 36 innings across 23 relief appearances in Triple-A Fresno this season, the Georgia native has posted a 1.75 ERA.

Sanchez returns to the team for the first time since May 1st, when he was designated for assignment to get more regular reps behind the plate. Sanchez’s promotion relieves a thin bench that has been ravaged by injuries to Pablo Sandoval, Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro. The young catcher is a switch-hitter and can be a weapon as a pinch-hitter, while retaining the ability to double-switch into games behind the plate. He also allows Bochy a little more room in giving Posey an off-day, not having to rely so heavily on Guillermo Quiroz to stay healthy or productive.

Pill had been to the plate just 29 times since being called up on May 15th, a testament to Brandon Belt’s season against right- and left-handed pitching. Belt’s season line of .251/.323/.422 has been bolstered by a .333/.375/.489 line against lefties. His career split of .283/.347/.475 against southpaws has me thinking that hitting left-handed pitching is a skill of Belt’s rather than something that he needs to be shied away from. Sorry, @PillzRgood.

Ramirez, on his second tenure with the Giants, has displayed the problems he showed in New York that led to his release. After four seasons as one of the most reliable right-handed relievers in baseball, Ramirez posted a 4.24 ERA with the Mets in 2012. His 5.2 innings for the Giants this season have been disastrous, yielding seven runs and while walking five batters and striking out none.

The fresh blood will try to stop the bleeding on the Giants’ current six-game road trip, where they have dropped to first to game. San Francisco is 12-20 on the road this season.

Thursday’s SF Giants lineup vs. Pirates, plus notes and links

The Giants’ road woes continue. With two straight defeats in Pittsburgh, San Francisco is now 12-20 on the road and just 33-31 overall. To their great fortune there is no breakaway team in the NL West, with Arizona on top at 37-29. If the Giants called the NL Central home, they would be 8.5 games behind the world-beating Cardinals.

The Giants will face Pirates’ pitcher Charlie Morton, who is making his season debut. One year ago tomorrow, the 29-year-old had Tommy John surgery to repair his elbow.

Marco Scutaro remains out with a case of “mallet finger”, but is looking to return tomorrow for the Braves series. Updates to follow today and tomorrow.

With the right-handed Morton on the mound, Blanco and Crawford return to the top of the lineup. Belt, too, moves up, having hit behind Joaquin Arias just yesterday. I understand Bochy believes heavily in platoon splits, but in the long run extra at-bats for Belt are more useful than anything Joaquin Arias does at the plate.

Here’s the lineup vs. Charlie Morton (0-0, 0.00), with notes to follow:

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