Giants Video

F. Sanchez's RBI double

Cain strikes out five

Reds Video

LeCure's nice stop

LeCure wins in debut

That's one of the main storylines when the two teams square off in the second game of their series Tuesday night in Great American Ball Park.

Sanchez went 2-for-4 on Sunday and 2-for-4 on Monday to extend his season-high hitting streak to 11 games. During that span, he's hitting .500 (20-for-40) with 10 runs, three doubles, six RBIs, 10 walks and eight multihit games.

The former National League batting champion has reached base safely via hit or walk in 30 of his last 51 plate appearances and is hitting .379 (25-for-66) this season while hitting safely in 14 of his 17 games.

A few weeks ago while still on the way back from a lengthy disabled-list stint, Sanchez almost predicted how well he'd do.

"I'm hoping within the next couple weeks I can feel back to 100 percent, where my timing's on, rhythm's on, my feel for the game is there and I'm going out there doing the best I can," Sanchez said. "Hopefully I can get locked in here soon."

If there's a cure for Sanchez in Tuesday's game, it just might be LeCure, who has been impressive since breaking into the Majors two starts back.

The 26-year-old right-hander took a loss in his last start at St. Louis, giving up three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings, but he had a good big league debut prior to that, giving up two runs in six innings and striking out five in a win over the Astros.

"I felt like I was under control and made some pitches in key situations," LeCure said. "Other situations, I didn't. I walked some guys and they scored."

Giants: Cain is able
Right-hander Matt Cain has been the Giants' best pitcher of late, going 2-2 with an 0.87 ERA and .155 batting average against (16-for-103) over his last four starts, including a pair of complete games. He has given up just one earned run in his last 25 innings and has won each of his last two starts. He'll be making his seventh career start against the Reds and is 2-3 with a 3.96 ERA in six outings, with all three of the losses to Cincinnati coming in his last three decisions. Cain faced the Reds twice last season, going 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA. ... Infielder Emmanuel Burriss (left foot fracture) will begin his rehab assignment Tuesday at Class A San Jose.

Reds: Ball Park hosting No. 600
Tuesday night's game will be the 600th at Great American Ball Park. The Reds are 300-298-1 in the first 599. ... Six of the Reds' last 10 losses were by one run and another was by a 2-0 score in 10 innings. ... Third baseman Scott Rolen needs three home runs for 300 in his career. ... Reliever Arthur Rhodes' active 22 2/3-inning scoreless streak is the longest by a reliever in the Major Leagues this season. He overtook Detroit's Jose Valverde (22 1/3 innings) on Monday.

Worth noting
The Giants are 27-6 when scoring four or more runs in a game and 4-19 when scoring fewer than four runs. They've also posted a 22-5 record when scoring a game's first run. ... Jay Bruce's home run in Monday's game prevented Great American Ball Park from hosting its second consecutive homerless game. That rarity has only occurred once in the ballpark's seven-year existence (Aug. 6-7, 2005, vs. Florida).