San Francisco Giants halt their skid at seven games with doubles, home runs and rookies galore

2 of 2
Next

Sep 5, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; San Francisco Giants catcher Hector Sanchez (29) is assisted by a team trainer and manager Bruce Bochy (15) after being injured while running to first base during the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Injuries and more injuries

There’s good news and there’s bad news. I’ll tell you the bad news first and then we’ll talk good news–it’s really the best news–the Giants won Saturday’s game, calling a halt to their seven game skid.

We’ll talk game in a minute. First, the bad news. Andrew Susac‘s season is over. My reaction when I heard the news: wha-a-t? He’s supposed to be Buster Posey‘s number two, right? But after Saturday’s game, Buster doesn’t even have a number three after Saturday’s game.

Susac has ligament damage to his wrist. He will undergo surgery on his hand and will have to keep it immobilized for several months.

ICYMI (that’s texting shorthand for “in case you missed it) Hector Sanchez followed Kelby Tomlinson in the lineup Saturday night. In the fourth inning, after Kelby reached on a fielding error, Hector laid down a bunt to advance Kelby to second. It was perfect except for one thing.

Hector tapped the ball and took off for first in a legitimate effort to run it out and reach base safely. He was close, but the throw beat him, and when his foot hit the bag his ankle may have turned because he sprained it. X-rays were negative for a broken bone.

He was helped off the field limping. The official scorekeeper ruled it a sac bunt, so at least his batting average wasn’t hurt along with his foot.

With both back up catchers out, manager Bruce Bochy will have to bring up another minor league player and add him to the 40 man roster. Jackson Williams has been tapped to be Buster’s new back up guy. He was drafted by the Giants in 2007 and has been bouncing around the minor leagues since. This past season he played for the AA Richmond Flying Squirrels.

Nori Aoki was not in Saturday’s lineup because he is experiencing concussion symptoms. He is traveling with the team to Arizona, but after that he is expected to see the concussion specialist in Pittsburgh, according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News.

According the MLB Injury Report: on September 4th, Joe Panik began rehab in Sacramento where he was joined by Matt Cain, who was placed on the 15-day DL with right elbow nerve irritation. Hunter Pence’s recovery is slower than he expected, but he took some very light swings. Brandon Belt was left out of Saturday’s lineup because of illness.

Next: The Good News

Sep 5, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; San Francisco Giants center fielder Gregor Blanco (7) is greeted by manager Bruce Bochy (15) after scoring during the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

On to the good news.

The Giants win a game–if it looks like a headline that’s because it’s news.

I think a quick glance will tell you that the Giants are missing a lot of players. Manager Bruce Bochy cobbled together a lineup for Saturday’s game that looked a lot like a spring training game‒a bunch of players Bochy is just looking at to see what they can do.

But this was a roster for a big league game for a team that is still clawing it’s way up the line for play-off contention. I posted the lineup to Facebook with this warning: “this lineup will make Bruce Bochy look like a genius or a crazy man. Maybe a little of both.”

He had Alejandro De Aza batting clean-up for the first time in his MLB career, Nick Noonan playing first base for the first time…ever‒which is actually false, because after the game, he admitted to playing first base in little league. The big bats: Belt, Buster and Marlon Byrd were not in the lineup.

Belt was out because he had stomach issues, Buster had the night off because he was hit by a pitch last night, fouled off his foot and he is supposed to catch Madison Bumgarner tomorrow. Byrd has been struggling at the plate and was given the night off.

Reactions from the fans ranged from “bye bye playoffs” and “pretty scary” to “looks like Bochy is giving up” and “yikes” but the reactions from some of the writers were pretty spot on. John Shea tweeted “this is the kind of lineup that will score ten runs at Coors Field.” He was pretty close.

Jake Peavy was on the mound for the Giants and he pitched five and ⅔ innings of good, solid baseball. He allowed three runs, four hits, one walk, and he struck out five. The bullpen held the game, and they were practically perfect, pitching the remainder of the game‒Hunter Strickland allowed one hit and Santiago Casilla gave up one walk.

The Giants bats came out to play. Angel Pagan got a base hit in his first plate appearance in the first and then in the third he hit a home run‒his first since 2014. Gregor Blanco got a couple of hits, but the big one‒when he led-off the seventh inning‒was a home run.

The Giants scored a few runs Giants-style, base hits, moving the line. But back-to-back doubles make scoring on base hits look like a simple math equation. In the second, Sanchez hit a two out thunder double and scored when Noonan followed him at the plate with another double. Two plus two equals home.

Peavy doubled in the fifth, Blanco followed with a walk and they both scored on Matt Duffy’s double. In the sixth, Buster got a base hit and Noonan followed with a force out, reaching on the fielder’s choice, sending Buster back to the dugout.

Of course, I was mid-tirade: mouthing off about how I hate that the force out takes the lead runner off the table…and then wham! Peavy sent a line drive to centerfield for a double and Noonan scored. Now I’m not saying Buster is slow, but if he’d been in front of Noonan on the base path, I’m not sure a run could have scored. So I shut up. Stop trying to picture what that looks like.

The last Giants runs were scored in the seventh. After Blanco’s big fly, De Aza singled, Brandon Crawford followed with a single and Buster drew an intentional walk. The bases were loaded when Noonan drew a walk, scoring De Aza. The final score was: Giants 7, Rockies 3

I’ve been saying it? Haven’t I been saying it? Don’t stop believing. The Giants ain’t dead yet. It ain’t over til it’s over. How many platitudes can we come up with? It might take a miracle, but we’re Giants fans. We believe in miracles.

Next