On Saturday afternoon, Hunter Pence wore his pants all the way down to his ankles, and the right fielder suffered through an 0-for-4 outing at the plate with three strikeouts.
On Sunday afternoon, Pence pulled his pants back up to his knees, allowed his high black socks some breathing room, and busted out with a 3-for-5 performance to help lead the Giants to a 13-8 victory over Minnesota.
Saturday’s game marked the first time in Pence’s 11-season Major League career that he didn’t have his pant legs hiked up, and after Sunday’s effort, he said it will probably be the last time, too.
“After yesterday’s game, that’s the first and probably the last time I ever wear my pants down on a baseball field,” Pence said. “I did not feel good, I felt awkward and so there’s almost some symbolism there. Trying to turn the page and get back to being me, so that won’t happen again.”
A struggling Pence snapped a 7-for-52 stretch at the plate with a fourth inning double off Twins’ starter Nik Turley, and it also served as the first of a career-high-tying three doubles Pence launched in Saturday’s win.
A hamstring injury forced Pence to the disabled list for the second half of May, and in the time since his return, the Giants’ right fielder has appeared lost at the plate, flailing at breaking balls and swinging well behind fastballs.
On Sunday, though, all of that changed as Pence slammed three doubles over the head of Twins’ center fielder Byron Buxton, igniting a Giants’ lineup that’s been in desperate search of a spark.
“It always feels good when you do, but I did start off with a strikeout,” Pence said of how the breakout felt. “But I didn’t feel too far off. Even with the strikeout, he threw me some good pitches, but today, I felt some good adjustments and something much better to compete with. That’s it, you want to get yourself in a position to have good at-bats, good swings, see the ball well.”
Pence and the Giants’ piggybacked on the shoulders of catcher Buster Posey, who also enjoyed a three-hit ballgame as the Giants set season highs with 13 runs and 17 hits.
Before the offensive onslaught began in a four-run seventh inning, the Giants were able to keep things close against Minnesota thanks to two early runs batted in off the bat of their catcher. Then, trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh, Posey rocketed a double past Twins’ third baseman Miguel Sano to drive in Kelby Tomlinson and Eduardo Nunez and give the Giants the lead.
“Very clutch,” Pence said of Posey’s go-ahead double. “He’s been just playing outstanding, unbelievable at-bats, working behind the plate and getting after it. It’s remarkable. To me, you could stay we’re going through a tough stretch, a tough start and you find out what people are made of in the tougher times and he’s just unbelievable. Character, skill, everything.”
Posey and Pence were two of the four Giants’ players who finished with three hits on Sunday, joining third baseman Eduardo Nunez and rookie left fielder Austin Slater. Aside from Posey, Nunez has been San Francisco’s most consistent hitter this season, as he lifted his average above .300 on Sunday after an 0-for-3 performance that snapped an 11-game hit streak on Saturday.
Slater, meanwhile, enjoyed his second consecutive multi-hit day and finished a homer shy of the cycle. The Stanford product posted a career-high four RBIs, and drew high praise from Posey and Pence for a disciplined approach on his bases-clearing triple in the bottom of the eighth inning.
“Slater, the swing he took there in the end with the ball in the right center field gap was a really impressive swing on what I believe was an off-speed pitch,” Posey said.
After the game, Slater confirmed Minnesota’s Craig Breslow threw him a changeup on the outside corner, and he made the most of it.
“He was sinking everything away from people so I was sitting outside half,” Slater said.
Pence had the opportunity to play alongside Slater on a rehab assignment in the Minor Leagues last season, and gushed about the left fielder’s maturity at the plate.
“He’s (Slater) ahead of the game for young guys that I’ve seen,” Pence said. “He’s got a great approach, it feels like he’s not sped up, like he trusts his process and he trusts what he’s doing up there and it’s really refreshing to see. Even to hear him speak about the game, a lot of the times, we can learn stuff from some of the young guys and he’s definitely got that intelligence and that instinct of the game which is really cool to see.”
Even though the Giants have lost 13 of their last 19 games and finished Sunday’s game 15.0 games back of the first-place Colorado Rockies, the organization is holding out hope that regulars like Pence will play up to their career norms while young guns like Slater will give the club a jolt of energy.
The Giants have been able to count on Posey from day one. It’s been the supplementary production that’s been missing, but on Sunday, Pence and Slater helped show what the team is capable of when it does indeed perform up to expectations.
“Hunter, he’s been fighting a little bit, it’s good to see him have a big day, three doubles,” Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy said. “Really Buster (Posey) had a big day, Slater, I mean everybody did something and it doesn’t look like it, but it was a close game there. It was a great comeback that kind of gets lost in all of this.”
In a season in which the Giants have used 10 different starting left fielders and received minimal production from nearly every player who’s been inserted into the role, the week Slater has put together has offered the franchise a breath of fresh air.
Though Slater likely never would have been ushered up to the big leagues had the Giants performed up to expectations in 2017, the Florida native is proving he belongs, and at least for the time being, has stated his case to be in the lineup on an every day basis.
“You look at his (Slater) history,” Bochy said. “Every level. He’s been moved up pretty fast. He’s figured it out and he’s succeeded. It’s not easy coming up here for the first time, you’re trying to get settled in but he looks comfortable, he looks confident and that’s the biggest part of this game. Believing.”
