SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (71-67) at ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS (66-72)

The Giants will be looking to snap out of their recent funk when they face the Diamondbacks in Arizona on Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS (71-67) at ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS (66-72)     

Sportsbook.ag Line: San Francisco +102, Arizona -112, Total: 8.5

San Francisco has really struggled recently, losing eight of its past 10 games and scoring one or less runs in five of those contests. The Giants had been fighting for a spot in the postseason, but they now find themselves nine games back from the Cubs in the race for the Wild Card.

The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, have struggled all season long. This team snapped a four-game losing streak with a 6-1 win in the first game of this series on Monday, but it has still lost 10 of its past 14 contests. Arizona has gotten the better of San Francisco on the season, going 8-6 in the matchup. The Giants, however, are 19-7 when facing the Diamondbacks in Arizona over the past three seasons.

Pitching for San Francisco in this one will be RHP Tim Hudson (6-8, 4.69 ERA, 55 K) and he’ll be facing RHP Chase Anderson (6-5, 4.26 ERA, 94 K ) for Arizona. The Giants are an impressive 78-52 against the money line with an on base percentage of .310 or worse over their past 20 games in the past two seasons. The Diamondbacks are 38-28 against the money line after one or more consecutive Unders this season.

OF Norichika Aoki (Head) is out indefinitely for San Francisco and Arizona will be playing this game at close to full strength.

Tim Hudson is getting the start for the Giants on Tuesday and it’s the first time he’s doing so since Jul. 26. Hudson has pitched out of the bullpen for San Francisco recently and has allowed no earned runs in his past 2.1 innings of work. The veteran righty faced the Diamondbacks earlier in the season and allowed five earned runs on six hits in five innings of work. He walked two batters in that game, but was able to strike out six also. If Hudson can give the Giants something close to a quality start then he will have done his job well in this one.

Offensively, San Francisco struggled on Monday and the only person who showed up was C Buster Posey (.330, 17 HR, 82 RBI), who has been on a tear recently. Posey is on a nine-game hitting streak and is 5-for-8 over the past two contests. He’ll need to keep hitting the cover off the ball moving forward or this team will continue to struggle. 3B Matt Duffy (.302, 10 HR, 65 RBI) has also been hitting pretty well as of late. He is 7-for-18 with four RBI over the past four games and will need to continue to drive in runs for this struggling offense.

San Francisco can also use some production from 1B Brandon Belt (.278, 17 HR, 62 RBI), who hasn’t homered since Aug. 11.

Chase Anderson will take the mound for Arizona on Tuesday and he has pitched pretty well recently, allowing just five earned runs over his past 17.2 innings of work. One problem for the Diamondbacks’ starter is that he got lit up the last time he faced the Giants, allowing seven earned runs on 10 hits in just 3.2 innings on Jul. 18. He’ll need to erase that from his memory and go out and pitch much better on Tuesday if he wants to give his team a chance to win.

1B Paul Goldschmidt (.319, 27 HR, 97 RBI) returned from paternity leave three games ago and has just two hits in his past 11 at bats. He’ll need to get back in his groove moving forward, as this offense really relies on him to produce runs. The Diamondbacks did, however, hit well in Monday’s 6-1 victory to start off this series.

OF A.J. Pollock (.317, 16 HR, 63 RBI) and 3B Phil Gosselin (.317, 2 HR, 10 RBI) provided the offense in the win. Pollock went 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBI in the game and Gosselin went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI. Pollock will be the player to watch of the two, though, as he is 5-for-12 with a homer and two RBI against Hudson in his career.