The San Francisco Giants are set to give left-hander Sammy Long an opportunity in the finale of their brief two-game interleague set against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday in Arlington, Texas.
With Anthony DeSclafani being pushed back a day, Long is set to make his major league debut and could get the nod against the Rangers. If he doesn’t start, he’ll be asked to pitch several innings out of the bullpen.
Long, 25, signed a minor league deal with the Giants in the offseason and quickly earned a promotion to Triple-A Sacramento, where he struck out 15 batters in two scoreless outings covering 7 2/3 innings.
San Francisco won for the eighth time in 10 games on Tuesday, beating Texas 9-4. Mike Tauchman hit his first career grand slam and Brandon Crawford had two homers and four RBIs.
Crawford also made his 1,326th appearance at shortstop, setting the record for the most games at the position in Giants history.
The 34-year-old has 14 homers and 41 RBIs to lead the Giants, who boast the majors’ best record at 38-22.
Crawford has three Gold Glove Awards, two All-Star appearances and a pair of World Series rings, and he’s now among the early leaders in the race for NL MVP.
“He’s an All-Star player,” teammate Alex Dickerson said. “He always has been. He’s showing probably his best year ever this year. It’s something we saw coming; we’re not particularly surprised about it.”
Texas will turn to ace Kyle Gibson (4-0, 2.06 ERA) after losing for the 12th time in the last 13 games on Tuesday.
Gibson returned Friday after missing two weeks with a groin strain and tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings in a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The 33-year-old right-hander helped Texas snap a nine-game losing streak by holding the Rays to five hits with no walks and five strikeouts.
“I think we were all excited to see him back out here,” manager Chris Woodward said. “This guy’s been an All-Star for us all year long. He’s had I don’t know how many straight quality starts, so you know having your ace on the mound and a full house at your home field honestly gave us a ton of confidence and a big boost.”
Gibson owns a 3-0 record and 0.57 ERA in five home starts this season and is 0-1 with a 4.91 ERA in two career starts against the Giants.
The Rangers are hoping for a spark from infielder/outfielder Eli White, who was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday. To make room for White, the team designated outfielder/designated hitter Khris Davis for assignment.
The 26-year-old White, who struggled in his first stint with the Rangers earlier this season, was batting .343 with three homers in his last 20 games with Round Rock.
Davis was acquired in an offseason trade with Oakland, but he was 8-for-51 (.157) with two home runs and five RBIs over 22 games since being activated from the injured list.
Texas, which has lost 13 consecutive interleague games, will be monitoring the status of two key players. Right fielder Joey Gallo left the Tuesday game as a precaution due to right groin tightness, and closer Ian Kennedy was unavailable because of right hamstring soreness.
