Big night for Hunter Pence in Giants’ 4-3 win

Pence homers in fifth; his sacrifice fly in ninth provides walk-off victory

SAN FRANCISCO >> Only Johnny Cueto could slow down Hunter Pence on Tuesday night at AT&T.

Certainly the Colorado Rockies couldn’t do it.

Pence drove in the game-winner with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning of the Giants’ 4-3 victory, but only after his home run trot in the fifth nearly ground to a halt because Cueto was more than taking his time on the basepath ahead of him.

“Obviously, I was very happy when he hit the home run,” Cueto said. “I just kept telling him, go ahead and enjoy the home run, because he’s always running fast.”

When Pence nearly rearended Cueto as they approached third, the Giants pitcher turned and gave him a slow-down sign by pumping his hands.

“He was like, ‘Take it easy, take it easy,’” Pence said. “My natural, comfortable jog is kind of fast. I think that was most likely the slowest (home run trot) of my career.”

Pence’s 12th homer of the season came on a night when major league baseball broke its alltime record for home runs in a season. Before the Giants and Rockies took the field, Kansas City’s Alex Gordon hit the record-breaking 5,694th home run, surpassing the previous standard set in 2000.

Asked if it was fun to be part of the historic night, Pence said, “It’s always a good time for hitting a home run.”

The Rockies, whose lead over Milwaukee for the second NL wildcard berth is down to one game, tied the score when Gerardo Parra hit a run-scoring double off Hunter Strickland in the eighth inning.

The Giants set the table for Pence in the ninth when Pablo Sandoval beat out a slow roller to third — his third hit of the game — Ryder Jones was safe on a sacrifice bunt try, and Kelby Tomlinson singled sharply to right, loading the bases with no outs.

The Rockies brought in a fifth infielder, but Pence said he hardly noticed before hitting the ball to medium-deep center, where Alexi Amarista landed on his face while making a diving catch as he sprinted away from the infield.

“If you sit there and try to do too much, trying to get it in the air, it can get in your way,” Pence said. “Just try to put a good swing on it.”

Cueto did not get the win, but showed resiliency after throwing 61 pitches through two innings, falling behind 2-0 on Charlie Blackmon’s two-run double.

“When I got back to the dugout after the second inning, I saw I was already at 60,” Cueto said. “I just told myself, ‘Hey, just go ahead and do your own thing and try to start throwing more strikes.’”

He used double plays in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings before being removed to a standing ovation with two out in the seventh.

“That was a remarkable performance by Johnny,” Pence said. “A ton of pitches the first two innings, then got a good rhythm, had everything working. He’s got a tremendous feel for pitching.”

• A week after undergoing pronator release surgery on his right pitching arm, closer Mark Melancon said he was relieved and optimistic about being ready to begin his offseason throwing routine by mid-December.

“I think it went really well,” he said. “Going in they were 100 percent confident that was the right approach, but you never know.

“After the surgery, they were even more confident that was the problem. I was happy to hear that. What they said afterward, seeing what they saw, they’re fully confident. So I guess it is a relief, yeah.”