Hobbled Giants won’t be denied
SAN FRANCISCO >> Every time Bruce Bochy meets with reporters before a game, the Giants manager seems to reveal a new injury that threatens to further decimate a roster that’s taking daily punches to its core.
Each time Bochy meets with reporters after a series, the skipper offers a new explanation for how a team that’s been backed into the ropes wound up winning another fight.
The Giants captured their fourth straight series victory Wednesday with a 9-4 win over the San Diego Padres and rewarded starter Derek Holland with his first win of the year.
“We’ve had some tough breaks so far, injury-wise,” catcher Nick Hundley said. “But I think it speaks to the depth that we’ve cultivated through the organization and through the offseason. We can withstand that.”
Against a Padres team that en-
tered AT&T Park having defeated the Giants in eight of the teams’ past 10 series, San Francisco rallied for three runs in the first and never looked back en route to a win that pushed the club a game above .500.
With starting catcher Buster Posey taking a day to rest, Hundley powered the Giants to a win with hits in his first four at-bats, including a two-run home run into the right field arcade seats in the bottom of the fourth. After the Giants failed to win four straight series at any point last season, Bochy’s squad accomplished the feat for the first time since taking five series in a row between June 10June 26, 2016.
Hundley finished a triple shy of the cycle and launched three extra-base hits, including two against Padres starter Clayton Richard, who exited after throwing 101 pitches in four labor-intensive innings.
“He is hot,” Holland said of Hundley. “Let’s keep that going. What’s great about the game is when a guy gets hot, another guy gets hot and they’re feeding off each other and that’s what we like to see.”
With Hundley hitting cleanup, the four, five and six hitters combined to go 7 for 8 with four walks the first four times through the order. First baseman Brandon Belt hit fifth and had two hits and two walks, and center fielder Austin Jackson delivered a tworun double in the first inning out of the six-hole. The team’s No. 7 hitter, Brandon Crawford, also contributed to a big day with two singles, a sacrifice fly and three RBIs that doubled his RBI total for the season.
The victory helped the Giants cap off a 7-3 homestand, but series against
Washington, Los Angeles and San Diego created new cracks in a roster that’s foundation wasn’t necessarily sturdy to begin with.
Hours after second baseman Joe Panik spoke for the first time since undergoing surgery to repair a torn UCL in his left thumb, right fielder Andrew McCutchen exited the game in the fourth inning after being plunked on the elbow by a Richard fastball in the top of the second.
McCutchen’s X-ray came back negative, but he’s not the only Giants regular the team is concerned about. Panik is scheduled to miss six weeks while starter Johnny Cueto, the National League ERA leader, could be out much longer.
Cueto was placed on the 10-day disabled list Tuesday with right elbow inflammation and on Wednesday, Bochy wasn’t ready to rule out the possibility of a UCL injury.
While the Giants’ disabled list is now loaded down with several marquee players, one pitcher enjoyed a triumphant return to the mound against the Padres.
Left-handed reliever Will Smith made his first appearance for the Giants since undergoing Tommy John surgery in March 2017, throwing a scoreless seventh inning that finished with a strikeout of Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer. Smith celebrated the punchout with a fist pump and received a standing ovation from the crowd surrounding the Giants’ dugout after Hundley tossed him a ball to save as a keepsake.
“You sit out almost a year and a half and just to be able to play baseball again was a pretty incredible feeling I’ll probably never forget,” Smith said.
After finishing the 2016 season with 18 straight scoreless appearances, Smith’s streak remains active at 19 games. With three road series against teams sporting winning records on the horizon, the adversity in front of the Giants continues to mount. But as the battle scars add up, so too do the series wins.
“We could have got buried with losing Bumgarner and the injuries we’ve had to deal with,” Bochy said. “Johnny’s been on the DL twice now. (Hunter) Pence on the DL, so it easily could have got away from us. But they played with a lot of heart.”