Happy Kelby Tomlinson night. pic.twitter.com/itYleREksz
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) September 13, 2017
SAN FRANCISCO–The Giants don’t have starting shortstop Brandon Crawford in the lineup on Tuesday night.
So far, that hasn’t mattered.
With Crawford taking a night off, Kelby Tomlinson started in his place defensively and held down the fort in the eight-slot in the lineup. Needless to say, he’s done a nice job.
In the bottom half of the third inning, Tomlinson gave the Giants a 1-0 lead with a solo home run to left field off of Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw. It marked Tomlinson’s first home run since October 3, 2015, and his first career hit off of Kershaw after starting 0-for-14 against the Los Angeles southpaw.
In the top of the seventh, Tomlinson proved he could do more than just swing the bat.
With two outs, the Dodgers sent Enrique Hernandez to the plate as a pinch hitter, and he slapped a Josh Osich pitch right back up the middle. Tomlinson, doing his best Crawford impression, ranged to his left, snagged the ball on a slide, hopped up to his feet and fired an on-target throw to Buster Posey at first base to get the out.
Some kind of night.