Sanchez sent to Triple-A
By John Shea
CINCINNATI — With Hunter Pence activated from the disabled list, little-used catcher Hector Sanchez was the odd man out and was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento.
That leaves the Giants with two catchers, Andrew Susac backing up Buster Posey, and five outfielders.
“Hector needs to play,” man- ager Bruce Bochy said. “We’re not doing him a service by having him sit and pinch hit once in a while. He’ll go down and play. It’s the best thing for him, best thing for us.”
Sanchez was hitting .194 (6-for-31), had just four atbats this month and hadn’t started a game since April 15. Without three catchers, Bochy is no longer comfortable pinch-hitting Susac early in a game, though the manager pointed out he could use Casey McGehee as an emergency catcher.
Bochy has more flexibility in the outfield. On Saturday, he started Gregor Blanco, Angel Pagan and Pence. For the third straight day, Nori Aoki was out of the lineup. Justin Maxwell played right field in Pence’s absence. Mighty shortstop: Brandon Crawford collected a careerhigh six RBIs and was a triple shy of the cycle. He had two chances to complete the feat but grounded out in the seventh inning and struck out in the ninth.
“Somebody mentioned it to me after the home run,” said Crawford, referring to his fifth-inning grand slam. “So, yeah, it was in the back of my mind. I was just trying to hit the ball hard and hopefully get it in a gap or get a good bounce off the wall. It’s not an easy park to hit a triple.”
Crawford caught Posey for the team homers lead, at six.
“We’re tied,” said Crawford, smiling. “I have more RBIs, though” — 24 to 18. Briefly: Pagan exited with back spasms. “I think Angel will be fine,” Bochy said. Still, the center fielder is expected to rest Sunday, giving him a twoday break with Monday’s off day. ... Pence is a .419 hitter (13-for-31) against Mike Leake, who started for Cincinnati on Saturday. ... On a night the Giants collected 16 hits (even Ryan Vogelsong singled), Joe Panik’s hit streak ended at 11 games.