Stellar start doesn’t surprise Schierholtz
CINCINNATI — Nate Schierholtz’s ascent from oblivion is one of the biggest surprises of the first month. Three weeks ago, following an awful spring training, Schierholtz sat in manager Bruce Bochy’s office and learned he would not be the starting right fielder. Now, he is playing every day and putting up big numbers.
On Monday, he became the first Giants hitter since Tito Fuentes in 1973 to have three hits in each end of a doubleheader. Schierholtz went 6- for-10 with two triples and took the team lead in homers with three.
Asked why his fortunes turned so quickly, Schierholtz said he did not allow that conversation in Bochy’s office to convince him he was not good enough to be the starting right fielder.
“I never lost my confidence despite what happened,” he said. “I always believed I could play every day.”
The spring struggles, which partly resulted from hip and arm injuries, “were nothing I hadn’t been through before,” Schierholtz said. “As much as I’ve been a spot starter here, I’ve been ready. I’ve done the best job I can. When I found out I wasn’t starting on Opening Day, I didn’t feel sorry for myself. I just went to work.”
Of all his hits Monday, Schierholtz seemed proudest of the sixth, a meaningless single in the ninth inning of the nightcap, because it came at the end of a long, bitterly cold night that froze the hitters’ hands.
“Toward the end of the second game, it was starting to be a long day,” he said. “It was good to get that last hit.”
There were no hits in Schierholtz’s bat Tuesday. He went 0-for-4 and grounded into a force with the bases loaded in the sixth to end the Giants’ best chance against Mat Latos. Briefly: Brandon Crawford jammed his left elbow landing awkwardly while making an eighth-inning play to force the Reds’ Drew Stubbs at second base but said he was fine. … An inning earlier, Crawford’s high, hurried throw on a doubleplay relay pulled Brandon Belt off first base, keeping Cincinnati’s rally alive. The Reds then scored five runs off Dan Otero.