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30	Januar 2019

SAN FRANCISCO � The San Francisco Giants

get a crack at one of the three teams ahead of them in both the National League West and wild-card races when they host the first-place Arizona Diamondbacks in a three-game series beginning Monday night.The Giants (65-67) responded to the loss of catcher Buster Posey to season-ending hip surgery with two straight wins over the Texas Rangers Rafael Devers Jersey , keeping them within eight games of the Diamondbacks (72-58) in the West and eight behind the Milwaukee Brewers (73-59) for the second wild-card spot.That�s a lot of ground to make up in 30 games, but the Giants do play 21 of their final 30 against playoff contenders, giving themselves a chance to determine their own fate to a certain degree.Article continues below ...That starts with Monday�s series opener against the Diamondbacks, when the Giants will go with right-hander Chris Stratton (8-7, 5.37 ERA) against Arizona left-hander Patrick Corbin (10-4, 3.17).The Giants are set up with their two top pitchers � Madison Bumgarner and Dereck Rodriguez � for the final two games of the series, which places added importance on getting off on the right foot in the opener with Stratton, who returned to the San Francisco rotation last Tuesday with a strong effort against the New York Mets.The Giants lost that game 6-3, but Stratton had outpitched Steven Matz for six innings before allowing two runs in the seventh that tied the score 2-2.The Mets added four in the eighth against the Giants� bullpen to win the game.Stratton has faced the Diamondbacks three times this season, with the results getting progressively worse.He allowed one run in seven innings of a 4-3 win in April, three runs in four innings of a 5-4 win in June and six runs in three innings of a 6-3 loss earlier this month.Paul Goldschmidt and David Peralta bombed Stratton for home runs in the first two innings of the Aug. 3 meeting in Arizona http://www.redsoxproshops.com/authentic-j.-d.-martinez-jersey , after which he was removed from the starting rotation for more than two weeks before resurfacing against the Mets last week.He�s 1-2 with a 4.65 ERA in six career starts against the Diamondbacks.With Posey out of the lineup, the Giants got production from a surprise source when outfielder Steven Duggar collected five hits in the three-game series against the Rangers, including a two-run, tiebreaking triple in Sunday�s 3-1 win.Duggar went 0-for-2 with a strikeout when Corbin pitched the win over Stratton earlier this month. It was his fifth start against the Giants this season.The 29-year-old threw a one-hit shutout against the Giants in April and limited them to one run on two other occasions this season. He has gone 3-0 in the five starts, improving his lifetime record against San Francisco to 8-7 with a 3.07 ERA in 24 games, including 22 starts.Corbin can expect to see Hunter Pence in the Giants� lineup tonight. The part-timer has hit four home runs with a .366 batting average in 45 career plate appearances against the left-hander.Coming off two losses in three games at home to the Seattle Mariners, the Diamondbacks find themselves one game up in the West on Colorado (71-59) and 2 1/2 ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers (70-61) as they begin a seven-game trip.The Diamondbacks go head-to-head with the Dodgers for four games in LA later this week. WASHINGTON (AP) � With a bottle of bubbly at his feet and a baseball with the inscription �300 Ks� in a case in his locker, Max Scherzer allowed himself a moment to consider what he�d just accomplished.�It was something I dreamed of, reaching this mark,� Scherzer said, �because I know how hard it is to consistently go out there and strike guys out.�Scherzer became the 17th pitcher since 1900 to strike out 300 batters in a season David Ross Jersey , reaching that milestone by fanning 10 in seven innings Tuesday night during the Washington Nationals� otherwise meaningless 9-4 victory over the Miami Marlins.�A big number,� Nationals catcher Matt Wieters said, �when you�re talking about strikeouts.�Scherzer (18-7) lowered his ERA to 2.53 by allowing one run in seven innings as he bids for a third consecutive NL Cy Young Award; he also won the 2013 honor in the AL for Detroit. He threw 70 of his 100 pitches for strikes, gave up five hits and didn�t walk a batter.The righty reached 300 by getting Austin Dean to whiff on an 85-mph slider at the end of a 10-pitch at-bat for the second out of the seventh. Scherzer pumped his fist while much of the announced crowd of 26,483 � including his wife, Erica May-Scherzer � joined players in the home dugout and home bullpen by saluting the ace with a standing ovation.�I definitely wanted to do it here at home,� said the 34-year-old Scherzer, who is currently slated to make one more start, in Sunday�s season finale at Colorado. �The fans � unbelievable support.�They would chant, �Let�s go, Max!� They would rise and cheer when he had two strikes on a hitter. They would emit a collective �Awwwwwww� when a pitch near the plate was ruled a ball � or even when a pitch resulted in any sort of out that wouldn�t add to his strikeout total.Sweating profusely on a muggy Steve Cishek Jersey , 78-degree evening, Scherzer had all of his repertoire working, from the 97-mph fastballs he threw past Lewis Brinson for strikeouts in the fourth and seventh innings, to the 84-mph changeup that JT Riddle missed for a K leading off the game.As is Scherzer�s wont, he stalked around the grass after strikeouts.Asked whether he considered pulling his famously intense pitcher before No. 300, Nationals manager Dave Martinez laughed.�I value my life,� Martinez joked. �He was going to get 10 today, somehow.�Scherzer now has 10 strikeouts or more in a majors-high 18 of his 33 starts in 2018, and 82 such games for his career.He got Dean by throwing fastball after fastball with a full count, then getting him to chase a slider.�That�s probably where you can see Max has become a more complete pitcher than he was earlier in his career,� Wieters said Drew Smyly Jersey , �where he was able to go with the slider and execute it and realize that with where that fastball was starting, (Dean is) going to be way out in front of it.�Dean�s take?�He�s the best pitcher in baseball,� the Marlins rookie said.The case certainly can be made. This is, after all, a guy with two no-hitters and a 20-strikeout game on his resume, along with the Cy Youngs.Scherzer entered Tuesday ranked No. 1 in the NL in eight significant statistical categories, including strikeouts, strikeouts-to-walks ratio (5.69), opponents� batting average (.188) and innings pitched (213 2/3). He was also tied for No. 1 in two others: wins and quality starts (27).The expectation is that Scherzer and New York Mets starter Jacob deGrom are the main Cy Young contenders in the NL. DeGrom is 9-9 with a 1.77 ERA and single-season records of 23 consecutive quality starts and 28 starts in a row allowing three or fewer earned runs.�There�s more to pitching than just striking guys out,� Scherzer said, �but also http://www.redsfanproshop.com/authentic-drew-storen-jersey , it is a big reason why you can have success.�RENDON AND HARPERNationals 3B Anthony Rendon hit a three-run shot in the first inning off Jeff Brigham (0-4), increasing his season totals to 24 homers and 90 RBIs and extending his streak of reaching base to 33 straight games. Rendon added an RBI double in the seventh, when Washington batted around and tacked on six runs. � Bryce Harper scored twice to surpass 100 runs for the season; he already had a career-best 100 RBIs and more than 100 walks. Harper can become a free agent in the offseason, so Wednesday�s series finale could be the 2015 NL MVP�s last home game at Nationals Park.UP NEXTThe Nationals will give 26-year-old RHP Kyle McGowin his first start in the majors Wednesday. Miami will start LHP Wei-Yin Chen (6-11, 4.66 ERA).