Four K’s, then four hits

ST. LOUIS — Catcher Aramis Garcia grew up a Cardinals fan in Florida because of two players, Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina. His room was all red and white.

So imagine how the Giants rookie felt spying Molina out of the corner of his eye while hitting the past two games.

“I didn’t even know what to say,” Garcia said. “It was surreal getting to face him today and yesterday.”

More surreal is how Garcia’s two games at the plate played out. He became the second Giant since at least 1913 to strike out four times, then get four hits in consecutive contests. Hunter Pence was the other, in 2015.

Garcia doubled and singled twice against Adam Wainwright, the last hit producing two runs. He added a single against Carlos Martinez.

Garcia really did leave Friday’s awful night on the field when he went back to the hotel.

“You’re going to have nights like that,” Garcia said. “You have to go home and remind yourself that you get to (play) again the next day. That’s something I’ve always held on to growing up.”

First for Panik: Joe Panik was kidding when he thanked Brandon Belt, Pablo Sandoval, Buster Posey and Ryder Jones for allowing him to play first base for the first time since Little League.

But his joke was a stark reminder

of just how many Giants have gone under the knife this year.

Garcia has become the primary first baseman, but he caught Saturday, so manager Bruce Bochy made Panik the eighth Giant to play first base this year, two short of the franchise record.

Panik had played second or short in all 934 games and 7,930 innings as a professional. He struggled to remember if he had played any first in high school and college and had to text his dad, who reminded him that he played somewhere around the first-base bag in Little League.

“I went back 20 years to rely on my first-base experience,” Panik joked.

Panik spent part of the morning on the field working with four coaches on footwork and positioning. He did not have any difficult plays or throws in the dirt during his 10 innings.

The biggest thing, he said, was remembering to jog to the bag when a Cardinal hit a groundball to somebody else.

Panik also had three hits, all singles, with Bochy saying “he hit like a first baseman.”

Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.