RISING TO THE OCCASION
San Francisco bats come to life against one of baseball’s hottest pitchers in 5-4 victory
SAN FRANCISCO » No one is going to mistake the Giants for the 1927 New York Yankees these days. Well, no one other than baseball’s hottest pitcher, that is.
Philadelphia Phillies righthander Aaron Nola should be excused if he left AT&T Park Thursday night believing that the Giants are one of the hardest-hitting teams in the National League. He had gone 10 consecutive starts without giving up more than two earned runs before the Giants tagged him for five runs over five innings in a 5- 4 win.
“We were battling up there, grinding out every at bat, finding a way to get on base,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “They just weren’t trying to do too much, putting the ball in play, using the whole field, getting the line moving, so to speak. That’s what worked tonight.”
The Giants battled at the plate, but they also found success in the batter’s box by jumping on Nola (98) early in counts. Hunter Pence opened the scoring by driving in Kelby Tomlinson with a two- out single in the third, lunging down to reach a first pitch curveball. He scored two batters later when Buster Posey punched a second pitch change up through the right side of the infield.
The Giants added three more runs in the fifth after Parker smacked his second double of the game, driving in Denard Span and Pence, and scored on a two- out single from Brandon Crawford, who smacked a first pitch curveball into left. Parker’s two RBI double provided a moment of comedy, too, as Pence nearly caught Span on the base paths, crossing the plate just one step behind the leadoff hitter.
“He was coming back and I was like, you’ve got to go, then he started running,” Pence said. “I just tried to time it as close as I could behind him, tried to score.”
But Span insists that didn’t hear Pence shout at him as he was racing around the diamond.
“I just knew that he was right on my heels. Hunter being Hunter,” Span said, adding: “I did not hear him, I just felt him, so I was just trying to run as fast as I could. In my defense, he had a running start. It was fun, though. I’ve never had anybody chase me like that before on the bases.”
With a three-run fifth, the Giants chased Nola from the game, tarnishing his Major League-leading 1.71 ERA since June 22.
Posey, Parker and Pence led the charge against Nola, reaching base three times a piece.
Despite the offensive outburst, Jeff Samardzija (8-12) ensured that the battle between the National League’s two worst teams wound up being entertaining for the fans at China Basin.
He gave up a home run to Cameron Rupp over the bricks in right in the fifth, and then he allowed the Phillies to make it a 5- 4 game in the sixth, coughing up three runs after the first four batters he faced reached base.
But the Giants middle infield bailed Samardzija out of the sixth by turning a nifty 4- 6- 3 double play with runners on the corners and no outs. Tomlinson made a diving stop on a ball up the middle and gloved it over to Crawford, who made a quick turn to get two.
In doing so, the Giants allowed Samardzija (8-12) to earn his fourth win in five starts after he started this season with a 4-11 record in 20 starts. Samardzija, who gave up four earned runs on eight hits in six innings on the bump, doesn’t believe his sixth inning fiasco is related to his heavy workload this season.
“I like throwing a lot of pitches,” he said. “I feel like it strengthens your arm, and especially late in the year, it’s good to stay on it, and long toss, and get that pitch count up. I feel good. They put some good bats on the ball there in the sixth. Other than that, I played pretty well.”
After the Giants escaped the sixth with a lead, the bullpen shut the door.
Mark Melancon, Hunter Strickland and Sam Dyson, who are quickly becoming a formidable trio on the backend of the bullpen, combined to pitch three scoreless innings, allowing just two runners to reach base.
“That’s a pretty nice luxury to have,” Bochy said, making reference to having two closers, Melancon and Dyson, in the bullpen. “Your closer helping out there in the seventh of a one-run ball game against a tough part of the lineup.
“It went like clockwork… That’s three pretty good pitchers that we have now at the backend of the bullpen.”
• Brandon Belt, who along with Joe Panik and Michael Morse is currently on the shelf with a concussion, appears to be improving after being evaluated by doctors on Wednesday.
“He seems to be doing a little better,” Bochy said. “He’s going to start his cardio tomorrow, and that is a big step toward rehabbing and getting back on the field.”
Panik, who suffered a concussion after getting hit in the head by a throw to plate on Sunday, is expected to be evaluated by team doctors on Friday.
• Miguel Gomez’s recovery from inflammation in his right knee has been hit with a setback.
Gomez was planning to begin a two-game rehabilitation stint with Class-A San Jose on Thursday. Instead, he was in the Giants clubhouse lounging around with his knee wrapped.
Despite the setback, Gomez expects to be back in the lineup sooner than later.
• The Giants organization is planning to shut down 2013 first-round draft pick Christian Arroyo for the remainder of the season.
General manager Bobby Evans told KNBR 680 that Arroyo, “will not be healthy enough to come back this season during the regular season.”
Arroyo suffered a broken left hand after being hit by a pitch with Triple-A Sacramento on July 1.
The 22-year-old infielder batted .192 with three home runs in 34 games with the Giants earlier this season.
“It’s not something you can’t recover from,” Bochy said. “But sure, it would have been nice for him to get some more time up here, which he would have in September. But the fact that he has spent some time up here, that’s invaluable experience for that kid.”