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SAN FRANCISCO — Two teams expecting key pitchers to be ready for their
regular duties clash Saturday afternoon when the St. Louis Cardinals and San
Francisco Giants lock horns for the third time in their four-game series.
The clubs have split the first two
games
Jordan
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an 11-2 shellacking on Thursday night, before the Giants got the better of a
pitchers’ duel in a 3-2 victory on Friday.
Two days after watching Johnny Cueto get rocked in his return from the
disabled list, Jeff Samardzija is expected to make his first start for the
Giants since May 29.
Samardzija (1-4, 6.56) struggled through pectoral and shoulder soreness in
April and May before being shelved.
“I always willed myself through little injuries and pains here and there
along the way,” Samardzija told SFGate.com. “I thought with a little break, I’d
be fine. It just ended up being an uphill battle the whole time. We feel back to
normal.”
He pitched well against the Cardinals last season, allowing a total of one
run and seven hits in 15 innings in two starts, striking out 17.
He didn’t get a decision in either game, both of which the Giants won.
Samardzija has faced the Cardinals 23 times in his
career
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3.68 ERA.
The veteran’s return means the Giants will have their three top guns —
Madison Bumgarner, Cueto and Samardzija — in the rotation at the same time for
the first time this season.
Samardzija will be opposed by Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez (5-4,
3.20), who is coming off consecutive strong outings against Cleveland and
Arizona, giving up a total of four runs in 12 innings in a pair of wins.
He will be pitching in San Francisco for just the second time in his career,
having allowed one run in five innings in a Cardinals win in 2014.
Martinez is 2-1 with a 3.09 ERA in his career against the Giants in five
games, including three starts.
The 26-year-old has dominated his head-to-heads with several of the Giants’
top hitters, including Buster Posey
(1-for-9
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delivered the eventual game-winning hit in Friday’s San Francisco win.
St. Louis welcomed back Paul DeJong from the DL on Friday and he responded
immediately with a hit and scored both of the Cardinals’ runs.
The standout second baseman had been out for seven weeks with a fractured
hand.
The Cardinals didn’t have closer Bud Norris available to them in the first
two games of the series after he experienced pain in his right index finger in
Arizona on Wednesday.
Norris, a San Francisco Bay Area native, underwent an MRI on Friday and was
cleared to remain on the active roster.
He threw a side session before Friday’s game and Cardinals manager Mike
Matheny announced he would be available to pitch on Saturday.
“At this point in this season, we’re going to get every look at every guy we
can,” Matheny said of recent roster shuffling that included the return
outfielder Dexter Fowler from the DL on Thursday. “Whenever they get a runny
nose, I think we’ll have two different doctors check it out. It’s that kind of
year. Be cautious when we can.”
Fowler hasn’t started either game in the series, but is a candidate to play
Saturday based on his five career extra-base hits, including a home
run
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SANTA CLARA, Calif.
(AP) — The schedule makers dealt Mike McGlinchey a rude welcome to the NFL.The
rookie right tackle for the San Francisco 49ers had three of his first four
games on the road, including matchups against elite pass rushers like
Minnesota’s Danielle Hunter, Kansas City’s Justin Houston and Melvin Ingram of
the Chargers.Looking back at that experience now, McGlinchey acknowledges it was
almost crippling.“You could almost feel as soon as a pass play was called, ‘Now
I have to worry about getting off the snap on time. I have to worry about what
he’s going to do,'” McGlinchey recalled this week. “You could feel the stuff
behind your eyes putting pressure on your face and you’re just like all right.
It’s just one of those things you feel overwhelmed and growing inside you. You
have to control it. I had solid games but nowhere near what it is now. I just
wish I didn’t have to worry about what I did being a rookie trying to impress
everybody early on and just play football.”After that somewhat spotty start to
his career, McGlinchey has found his groove and has justified the decision the
Niners (4-10) made when they drafted him ninth overall to be a foundation piece
of the offense.San Francisco immediately traded incumbent tackle Trent Brown,
one of the better pass blockers at the
position
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McGlinchey.Coach Kyle Shanahan said some rookies can’t recover after being
exposed early by top-level NFL players but that wasn’t a problem for McGlinchey
when he struggled at times against Ingram in Week 4.“That never enters
McGlinchey’s mind,” Shanahan said. “He thinks about what just happened, tries to
get through it and I think him getting through that game and being able to make
it through an injury and playing against a good player, that always gives guys
confidence.”That confidence has built as the season has gone along and
McGlinchey has been one of the better rookies in the league. His strong play has
helped third-string quarterback Nick Mullens flourish in recent weeks and he has
been a major part of a running game that was ranked in the top 10 in production
for most of the season.But he’s still not satisfied.“I’m not where I want to be
and I’m not sure you ever are as a football player,” he said. “But what I’m
proud of this season is I’ve been stacking games together. Since a certain point
of midway through the season I can feel myself getting better each and every
week and taking things that I saw on tape last week or in practice and
improving.”That’s been particularly crucial during a recent stretch where
McGlinchey and the 49ers have once again been matched up against a string of
elite pass rushers.San Francisco has matched up against Seattle’s Frank Clark in
two of the past three weeks, with a date against Denver’s dynamic duo of Von
Miller and Bradley Chubb in between. In all, the 49ers will have faced 10 of the
top 13 leading sackers in the NFL this season after Sunday’s matchup against
Khalil Mack and the Chicago Bears.As challenging as it was two weeks ago dealing
with Miller’s speed rush off the edge, McGlinchey will have even more to deal
with against Mack, a player he called the best pass rusher in the NFL.“It’s
completely
different
Sheldrick
Redwine Jersey ,” he said. “(Mack’s) bigger, he’s stronger, he uses more
power. With Von the challenge is staying in front of him. With Khalil it’s just
about everything. Von is in a class of his own in terms of get off. Khalil is so
multiple with how he can rush. That’s what his biggest strength is.”NOTES: S
Jaquiski Tartt (stinger) will be placed on IR on Saturday and miss the rest of
the season. … Marcell Harris will once again start in his place.
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