Belt home run beats Colorado
Who says the Giants can’t develop outfielders? Their homegrown left fielder had quite a Sunday afternoon.
Brandon Belt, who started in left field with right fielder Andrew McCutchen nursing a minor knee injury, got his first outfield assist in seven years before accomplishing what he really is paid to do.
Belt broke a seventh-inning tie with a three-run homer against Rockies left-hander Jake McGee, his fifth in the past seven games. Catcher Nick Hundley followed with another homer and the Giants won 9-5 in a game they had trailed by three runs to move within two games of first-place Arizona in the National League West.
Standings mean little in mid-May, but a 4-13 Diamondbacks free-fall has allowed the Giants to stay relevant despite their injuries and spotty play over the past two weeks.
Sunday’s victory gave the Giants a split with Colorado, a 4-3 homestand and return to .500 at 24-24 ahead of an eightgame trip, not bad given zero starts from Madison Bumgarner, five from Johnny Cueto, no saves from closer Mark Melancon, 23 games for second baseman Joe Panik, 17 for Opening Day left fielder Hunter Pence and five for his replacement, Mac Williamson.
All of which led Belt to one conclusion.
“I think we’re just pretty dang good,” he said.
Underneath the hood, the Giants have some issues, particularly on the mound.
The rotation has struggled to provide length and quality starts without Bumgarner and Cueto. Since Cueto last pitched on April 28, the starters have a 4.45 ERA and lasted six innings in just eight of 21 games.
Ty Blach was the latest to scuffle, allowing four runs in 41⁄3 innings to spot the Rockies a 4-1 lead by the fourth inning.
That might have been a death knell last year. The difference this year is the offense, which the front office worked hard to augment over the winter.
Newcomers McCutchen and Evan Longoria have made big contributions, as have the two Brandons — Belt and Crawford — who are hitting .313 and .302, respectively.
The Giants are better equipped to come from behind and get contributions from throughout the lineup and bench.
Gorkys Hernandez, who had no homers last year, hit his fourth of 2018 in the fifth inning with Miguel Gomez aboard to get the Giants within 4-3. Kelby Tomlinson provided a 5-4 lead with two-run triple in the sixth.
After Sam Dyson allowed a run in the seventh, a Hernandez single and Longoria walk brought Belt to the plate against lefty Jake McGee with one out in the bottom half.
McGee left a fastball over the plate and Belt socked it into the arcade for his 11th homer of the season and his first off a lefty this year.
Belt is on his way to shedding his reputation as a streaky hitter.
“This guy has got such a ceiling on him, and we’re seeing it,” manager Bruce Bochy said.
Belt also contributed to a great third out at the plate in the fourth inning after a Pat Valaika double went over his head. Belt got the ball to Crawford, who had ventured so deep into left field to take the throw that he should have gotten an outfield assist as well.
Crawford zipped the ball on the fly to Hundley, who tagged Noel Cuevas in time.
The Giants understand they will have to win with defense, hitting and excellent relief until they can get Bumgarner and Cueto back. The starters need to be better, too, but at least they can count on some help from the bats.
“It gives us a lot of confidence as a pitching staff,” Blach said. “We can afford to give up a few runs here or there. We don’t have to be as perfect as we want to be.”
Andrew Suarez and Jeff Samardzija better be as perfect as they can be Tuesday and Wednesday in Houston when they face Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander. Verlander leads the majors with a 1.05 ERA. Cole is right behind him in the American League at 1.75.