Gordon May Meet His Match Against Giants' Lincecum
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MIAMI (AP) -- Dee Gordon may finally meet his match with his 12-game hitting streak on the line.
Baseball's best hitter has fared poorly against Tim Lincecum, whose San Francisco Giants have dropped his last four starts against the Miami Marlins heading into Friday night's matchup at AT&T Park.
Gordon leads the majors in hits (52) and batting average (.437) and is second in multihit efforts (15). He is batting .560 during a hitting streak that is the longest current one in the majors and one game shy of his career best set in September.
"He's been a huge lift for us at the top of the order," manager Mike Redmond said. "This guy is locked in."
The leadoff hitter is 3 for 21 against Lincecum (2-2, 2.40 ERA), who has gone 0-3 with a 5.26 ERA in his last four outings against the Marlins after going 2-0 with a 2.11 ERA in his first three.
The right-hander pitched eight innings of three-hit ball Sunday to earn a 5-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
Lincecum should be tough on Gordon since he is limiting left-handed hitters to a .184 average. He is throwing a fastball, split-finger fastball or cut fastball on 81.8 percent of his pitches to lefties.
"His fastball command really can determine how his game goes," manager Bruce Bochy said.
Hitting right behind Gordon is the red-hot Martin Prado, who has reached base safely in 16 straight games with a .343 average. Prado is 10 for 30 off Lincecum while Giancarlo Stanton is 4 for 14.
The timing could be less than ideal for lefty-swinging Christian Yelich to return since he's 0 for 7 with five strikeouts versus Lincecum. Yelich will be activated from the disabled list Friday after being sidelined with a back injury since April 19.
Gordon and Prado each had three hits and Stanton and Marcell Ozuna drove in two runs apiece in Thursday's 7-2 victory to open this four-game series. The Marlins (14-15) continued this trip after losing two of three at Washington by posting their 13th win in their last 16 games at San Francisco.
"We came out really relaxed today after a long night of travel," Redmond said. "Our guys really like playing here for whatever reason."
Miami has lost four of five starts by Jarred Cosart (1-2, 2.97), who gave up three runs in five-plus innings in Sunday's 6-2 home defeat to Philadelphia.
The right-hander has never pitched against the Giants (14-15) and has faced two of their hitters - Casey McGehee (1 for 3) and Nori Aoki (0 for 2).
McGehee could see action for the first time Friday against the team he played for last season. He was second on the Marlins with a .287 average in 2014 with a team-high 177 hits, but is batting .178 this year.
Marlins slugger Michael Morse was presented with his World Series ring before Thursday's contest and went 2 for 4. Morse singled in what turned out to be the winning run in the Giants' 3-2 Game 7 victory at Kansas City.
Miami has won 11 of 15 while San Francisco has dropped two straight at home after winning eight in a row there.
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