Rain threatening Giants and Cubs afternoon affair

May 14, 2011GIANTS (21-17) vs.
CHICAGO CUBS (17-20)
4:10 p.m.GAME LINEUPS
(AP) -- High-scoring games from the Chicago Cubs have been an infrequent occurrence. Those few times when their offense does break out, they usually follow with a dud.Coming off an impressive showing in their series opener against the San Francisco Giants, the inconsistent Cubs hope for another big day at the plate in a rare Saturday night game at Wrigley Field.Chicago (17-20) won 11-4 on Friday, snapping the Giants' six-game winning streak. The top three hitters in the Cubs' batting order - Starlin Castro, Darwin Barney and Marlon Byrd - went 8 for 14 with five RBIs and five runs.
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It was the second win in five games for the Cubs, who have 22 runs and 31 hits in those victories. They've managed five runs while leaving 29 runners on base in the defeats."We really got to focus on what we've been working on in batting practice," said Reed Johnson, who went 3 for 5 with four RBIs Friday, "and just carry that over into the game."Building on that result, though, might not be that easy.The Cubs have scored seven or more runs six times, winning all of those contests. They followed each of those first five games with a loss, combining for nine runs.
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Chicago hopes for better luck Saturday against Ryan Vogelsong (2-0, 3.05 ERA), who will be making his fourth start.Vogelsong was perfect through five and allowed one hit and one walk over 6 1-3 innings of a 3-0 win against Colorado on Sunday."That's the best experience I've ever had in baseball," the right-hander told the Giants' official website.Vogelsong, who played in Japan from 2007-09, is 1-4 with a 7.59 ERA against the Cubs. He hasn't faced them since throwing an inning of relief for Pittsburgh in April 2006.It has been considerably longer since the last time the Cubs played under the lights of Wrigley Field on a Saturday.Because of parking restrictions in the neighborhood, the Cubs may only play on Friday and Saturday nights if it is part of a national television broadcast. This is the first Saturday night game at Wrigley since Aug. 31, 2002.San Francisco (21-17) is also struggling offensively.The Giants have scored four runs or fewer in nine straight and 13 of 14 games. They've usually received enough pitching, however, as Friday's defeat was just their second in 10 contests.One bright spot in San Francisco's offense is Andres Torres, who had three hits and scored twice Friday.Torres is hitting .467 in four games after missing a month with a strained Achilles' tendon. The leadoff hitter is batting .421 in five games against the Cubs since the start of last season, and he's 3 for 7 with a pair of triples against scheduled starter Doug Davis.Davis will be making his first start after being promoted from Triple-A Iowa. The veteran left-hander went 1-4 with a 7.51 ERA in eight starts for Milwaukee last season.One year ago from Sunday, Davis was diagnosed with pericarditis, an inflammation of the lining surrounding the heart. He made one more start in July before being shut down the rest of the season with elbow problems."It's exciting for him to be back in the game, and I think he's ready to go," manager Mike Quade told the Cubs' official website.This will be Davis' first start versus the Giants since 2009, and he is 5-8 with a 4.72 ERA against them.