Hundley beats Cardinals with HR in 10th
Nick Hundley will be a free agent after the season, and he and the Giants seem a perfect match.
“I love these guys,” the catcher said. “People in this clubhouse are winners. It hasn’t been the best year, but these guys are great to come to work and play with.”
In the Giants’ lost season, Hundley has been productive backing up catcher Buster Posey and getting his share of big hits, his latest a 10th-inning walk-off home run in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the Cardinals at AT&T Park.
Hundley slugged Ryan Sherriff ’s 92 mph fastball over the right-field wall, a rare feat for a right-handed batter, and was mobbed at home plate by teammates who appreciate his contributions and energy.
Jeff Samardzija, who gave the Giants an opportunity to win with seven dominant innings (one run, two hits, nine strikeouts), called Hundley “an amazing teammate, one of the best I ever had. He brings emotion every day to the team, playing or not.”
Manager Bruce Bochy said Hundley is “a pleasure to have around the club. His energy. His enthusiasm. The talent. He brings a lot of experience. Brings it every game. … It’s fun to have him here.”
The Giants have major issues to address in the offseason, including center field, third base and the bullpen, but the catching combination of Posey and Hundley has been perfectly fine.
Posey is signed for four more years, so the question is whether Hundley will be back in 2018. He got a $2 million contract in January, almost an afterthought to the $62 million deal given to closer Mark Melancon (Hundley’s teammate at the University of Arizona), and figures to get more on the open market — especially if there’s a team willing to give Hundley an everyday job.
Hundley didn’t want to address his free agency with a month left in the season but emphasized his fondness for his teammates.
He’s hitting .260 with six homers and 22 doubles, fifth most on the team in just 223 at-bats. Pitchers commend his work behind the plate, and he has thrown out 34 percent of runners trying to steal, not far from Posey’s 37 percent.
“Obviously, the season hasn’t gone the way we wanted,” Hundley said. “There’s a lot of pride in this clubhouse, a lot of fight in us. There’s a lot of guys who won championships in here.
“To play a team like the Cardinals, who are still fighting for the playoff race and to come out and get a win, it’s really important. It’s important for us, and it’s important for the league. The rest of the league deserves our best shot, too.”
Hundley had rough at-bats early in the game against Lance Lynn, who yielded one hit in eight scoreless innings and retired Hundley on a basesloaded forceout to end the first inning.
Hundley popped out and flied to deep right his next two at-bats. The flyout gave him a good indication of how the ball was traveling on a sizzling day with the first-pitch temperature at 95 degrees, matching the second hottest day in the 18year ballpark’s history.
The next time Hundley hit a deep fly to right, he knew it was gone. He also homered down the line in right in the Giants’ final game before the All-Star break. Saturday’s was his second career walk-off homer, his first since 2009 as a Padre.
Dexter Fowler’s RBI single in the fourth gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead into the ninth. Posey’s bloop single scored Hunter Pence to tie it.
A day after the Giants’ bullpen surrendered nine runs in three innings in an 11-6 loss, Cory Gearrin, Steven Okert and Derek Law combined for two perfect innings (five strikeouts), and Sam Dyson overcame Fowler’s leadoff triple in the 10th to set the stage for Hundley.