The club activated Hunter Pence from the disabled list Saturday and he’s in the lineup as the Giants try to snap out of their second-half funk against the Washington Nationals. “You’re going to be up and down”.
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Later on in the game, in the seventh inning, San Francisco’s offense would come to life once again, this time when they needed it the most.
The Giants stranded him there. Every triple play is there, with every situation and every combination record.
Lopez issued five walks in his four innings of work, two of those batters eventually coming around to score during a three-run bottom of the fourth that also included a bases-loaded double by Eduardo Nunez. A little later, there was the old “sacrifice fly with a runner on third”.
Bruce Bochy went for the jugular in an early spot and it paid off thanks to a bullpen that held on for the final five innings. After seven suffocating innings from Washington starter and victor Max Scherzer (11-6), San Francisco got into the Nationals shaky bullpen in the eighth trailing and quickly put the tying runs on base when Span beat out a bunt single against lefthander Oliver Perez and Angel Pagan followed with a single to left.
Neither Span nor Bochy would say anything critical of third base coach Roberto Kelly, and it’s true, the play was an odd one that developed quickly. It was quite possibly the best way Nunez could relate to his new teammates, who have combined to post the major’s worst average with runners in scoring position since the All-Star break.
We re in all these games, he said. “I like the mind our group has”. I just happened to hit it right at him. The Giants beat the Nationals 5-3, snapping a three-game skid that’s part of a much larger slide.
The first time did not go well.
He was stranded in scoring position, too.
Players in the dugout looked confused, Solis seemed bewildered, and the Giants’ base runners looked like a herd of puzzled sheep.
The Nationals added a run against Peavy in the fourth inning when Ryan Zimmermann singled and lumbered home on Danny Espinosa’s double off the wall in left-center. He made 28 starts at third and four at second.
Leave it to Pence to find a positive even within the negatives.
“That was great for me to make that mistake there”, he said. “It’s ‘all right, step up your focus and don’t be too insane”.
Pence missed 48 games with a right hamstring strain and underwent surgery June 9 to remove a torn tendon.
“I’m really grateful and really just love everything about playing for the Giants and this lovely stadium and fans”, Pence said. Baggs back Saturday to take you the most critical period of the season – the remainder of this Washington series and the daunting road trip that will kick off August.
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Incredibly, this was also a first for Nationals manager Dusty Baker. From behind the plate, catcher Buster Posey threw out two attempted stolen bases during the game, raising his percentage to 49 on the season.
