Pagan a big hitter at the right time
Two games into the final and most important series of the Giants’ regular season, Angel Pagan has been all over the headlines for different reasons.
He took down a trespasser who senselessly ran onto the field Friday, and he took down a pitcher who masterfully ran through hitters for four innings Saturday.
“I don’t know what was more impressive,” teammate Joe Panik said after Pagan helped the Giants beat the Dodgers 3-0 Saturday, “the tackle last night or the home run today.”
Both were emotional pick-
me-ups in the pursuit of the postseason, and with the Giants in position to clinch a playoff spot in Sunday’s finale, fans wonder what Pagan will do next.
Walk on water in McCovey Cove, perhaps?
The Giants will be in New York for Wednesday’s wild-card game if they win Sunday or the Cardinals lose. If the Giants lose and the Cardinals win, the two teams will meet in a tiebreaker in St. Louis on Monday.
A lot to consider heading into the 162nd game.
“I don’t think we have room to think about anything,” Pagan said. “For us to get in, we’ve got to win. We have no time to think what could happen, what we have to do, what we don’t have to do. We know what we have to do, and that’s win.”
Against Clayton Kershaw, a three-time Cy Young Award winner and 2014 MVP, Pagan opened the fifth inning with a home run, his career-high 12th, and started the seventh with a sharp single to right, scoring from first on third baseman Justin Turner’s throwing error as Brandon Crawford legged out an infield hit.
On a day in which rookie Ty Blach stunningly
out-Kershawed Kershaw, Pagan ignited the offense as the No. 5 hitter, a spot in the lineup he has occupied just seven times.
It came a day after Pagan electrified AT&T Park and social media with a body slam of a foolish fan who interrupted play by parading around the field. The guy taunted Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey before experiencing the wrath of Pagan, who deked him with an extended arm and then grabbed him, threw him to the turf and stayed on him until security arrived.
It happened in the fourth inning with the score 2-2. A couple of innings later, the Giants rallied for seven runs to secure a 9-3 blowout.
“I know, I know,” Pagan said when reminded of his headlinemaking feats in consecutive days. “What happened (Friday), I hoped it got the team pumped up. I didn’t want to hurt him. In our situation, I was protecting my teammates. You never know what could have happened.
“I just wanted to ambush him so we can continue the game because Bum was on a roll. We didn’t want him to lose his focus.”
This has been a career-altering season for the 35-year-old Pagan, the center fielder on the 2012 championship team but out for much of 2013 and 2014 with injuries. He missed the 2014 postseason that ended with a third straight even-year World Series title.
Pagan is a free agent after this season, so Sunday could be his final home game as a Giant, if the team fails to
reach the Division Series. That’s not exactly front and center on his mind. For now, all that matters is October baseball, which has been the Giants’ time of year in the Bruce Bochy era.
“We’ve seen it the last five, six years,” Pagan said. “Whenever we’re in a moment like this, this is when the best comes out of the team. We showed it the last couple of days. We love this type of environment.”
Pagan was forced to make adjustments this year, moving from center to left (after the signing of Denard Span) and opening as the No. 9 hitter, behind the pitcher. Pagan appeared in six spots in the lineup, and Bochy liked the switchhitter fifth Saturday, behind Hunter Pence.
Pagan is a .290 hitter in 69 at-bats against Kershaw, and Posey is the only Giant to face the lefty more.
“Angel has a knack of coming through when you need him,” Bochy said. “He’s a clutch player.”
It helps that Pagan’s legs aren’t hurting. He missed 11 games in early May and 18 more in late May/early June with a bum hamstring. Nowadays, at the right time, he seems physically fine. The proof was his sprint from first to home in the seventh inning.
“Watching him play,” Panik said, “you can tell he’s healthy. That’s the big thing. You kind of see it in him, in his legs. He’s in another gear. He’s the Angel that we know.”