Pence knocks home ‘soul brother’ Sandoval
Veterans offer blast from past, batting 3-4 in Cactus play
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. >> No, it’s not 2014. And by all indications, there will be no even-year, umm, you know. But it sure felt like it Monday at Salt River Fields, at least for a couple innings.
Hunter Pence made his first spring training appearance since re-signing with the Giants this winter, and he was the recipient of the largest cheers of the 8-1 win over the Diamondbacks when he stepped into the box for the first time, following who other than Pablo Sandoval.
Sandoval and Pence hit 3-4 in the Giants order — albeit in a spring training exhibition — for the first time since July 30, 2013. It didn’t amount to much the first time through the lineup, but Pence drove in the first run of the day in the third inning.
With two outs in the third, Wilmer Flores drew a walk and Sandoval followed with a hard single through the hole at short. That brought Pence to the plate.
“I had a lot of adrenaline,” Pence said.
He channeled it into a line drive up the middle that brought Flores home and allowed Sandoval — or in Pence’s words, his “soul brother” — to chug his way from first to third. He was stranded there, however, as Pence was picked off first base on the next play.
You’re not the only one feeling a little nostalgic.
“It’s like we went into a little black hole there for a year and all of a sudden we’re back with Pablo and Hunter out there,” starting pitcher Jeff
Samardzija said. “It’s like the old times again.” SAMARDZIJA ERRATIC, BUT EFFECTIVE >> Giants starting pitchers had run up a count of 20 1/3 innings pitched this spring without allowing an earned run. Before Monday, no starter had come out for a third inning of work yet, either.
Samardzija put an end to both those streaks. After needing 28 pitches to get through his first two innings, manager Gabe Kapler sent him back out to the mound for the top of the third.
He appeared to have settled in after missing the strike zone on six of his first eight pitches, but John Hicks put an end to that. A first-pitch slider got a little too much of the plate and Hicks put it on the berm behind the left-field foul pole.
“First time we faced him, just trying to get ahead in the count there,” Samardzija said. “But other than that, I thought everything was pretty good. The splitter was good. I threw some good backdoor sliders. The cutter has some work to go, but overall we just kind of did what we did out there and worked both sides of the plate.”
Samardzija stayed in and recorded the final two outs of the third, finishing with a final line of three hits, a walk and a strikeout to accompany the solo home run. GIANTS INFIELD FLASHES THE LEATHER >> Pence didn’t get any action in two frames playing right field.
But he very well could have if not for Mauricio Dubon and Flores, who made up the right side of the Giants’ infield.
On back-to-back plays in the first inning, Dubon shifted into shallow right field and was rewarded each time. Eduardo Escobar hit a sharp grounder that Dubon scooped up with ease, possibly only because of his positioning. The next batter, David Peralta, hit a nearly identical ball to Dubon, who this time needed to range to his left, spin and throw. It pulled Flores off the bag at first, but Flores corralled the throw, got the out and slapped gloves with Dubon jogging off the field.
“As a pitcher, with all these shifts, you’re really putting a lot of trust and respect into your defense, leaving half the field open,” Samardzija said. “As long as you make those right pitches, when it works out, they hit hard balls right at guys that are in the right spot. That play that Dubon made, then Flo to catch the ball, too. That’s not an easy play because guys are coming from different spots than they’re used to.”
The Giants, like the rest of baseball, are utilizing shifts more than ever. Kean Wong, who subbed in for Evan Longoria at third base, also jogged into shallow right for a handful of plays later in the game.
Flores flashed the leather one more time in the second inning, going down to one knee to snag a hardhit ground ball off the bat of Jake Lamb. He quickly tagged first and fired to shortstop Abietal Avelino at second to double-up Kole Calhoun and end the inning.
WHAT ABOUT WATSON? >> There’s Shaun Anderson. And Trevor Gott. And Tyler Rogers. Maybe even Matt Carasiti or Sam Coonrod gets a look.
But the leading candidate for the Giants’ closer role — if there is a formal one in this rebuilding season — hasn’t pitched yet in a spring training game and there isn’t a timetable for him to get into one.
Left-hander Tony Watson has been dealing with tightness in his throwing shoulder and is about three weeks behind schedule. He threw his first bullpen of the spring Saturday.
“It’s nothing I’m concerned about,” Watson said. “The most important thing is to be ready when the season starts opening day. Keep throwing, keep progressing and hopefully get some live BPs here soon and just take it one day at a time.”
Watson had been throwing before he arrived at camp, but he got his shoulder checked out once he had access to the Giants training staff and they shut him down.
“I just wasn’t bouncing back from my bullpens like I was hoping,” Watson said. “I was just going in for some measurements, some strength tests and I wasn’t where I wanted to be. I’m just glad we caught it early.”