SAN FRANCISCO — Bruce Bochy had been in a similar conundrum just two days prior.
In the ninth inning of Saturday’s first game in a double-header, the Giants trailed the Los Angeles Dodgers 15-6. San Francisco third baseman Pablo Sandoval was summoned to pitch. At that point, the game had been decided, but Sandoval promptly retired all three batters he faced on 11 pitches.
Fast forward two days, and Bochy feared he may have to do the unusual once again: pitch a position player.
This time, in Monday’s 6-5 win over the visiting San Diego Padres, the game was tightly contested. The Giants felt the effects of a double-header on Saturday, leaving them limited pitching options. The Giants trailed 5-3 entering the ninth inning Monday night, and available relievers were scarce. Even emergency relievers — specifically Sandoval — were unavailable.
“Believe me, my wheels were spinning there, but my focus was on that inning,” Bruce Bochy said postgame. “But you know, my emergency reliever was done — Pablo was on the bench. So, I don’t know what I would have done really, being honest. I probably would have put a pitcher out there on the field and found a position player to go out there and pitch.”
That player: first baseman Brandon Belt.
Fortunately for the Giants, a three-run ninth inning gave that lead to a 6-5 win eliminated the possibility of Belt’s pitching debut. San Francisco trailed by two runs before manufacturing all three runs in the ninth inning with two outs.
With runners on first and second, Evan Longoria blooped a single into left field, scoring outfielder Austin Slater and cutting the San Diego to 5-4. Brandon Belt was next up with runners on first and third. He walked to load the bases. Pinch hitter Nick Hundley was due up. He worked the count to 1-0, punched a single into center field, and scored the final two runs to give the Giants a dramatic 6-5 victory.
These are challenging, and possibly unprecedented, times in San Francisco. The Giants have weathered a brutal injury bug that has swept through the top of the pitching staff and permeated into the position players more recently. Tomorrow’s starter — rookie Andrew Suarez — wasn’t on the 25-man roster Monday night.
But the Giants found a way, bookending their six runs with two three-run innings in the first and ninth innings. Seven innings of scoreless baseball lapsed, but it didn’t matter. The Giants have won seven of their past nine games.
After the win, Bochy, who has managed, 3,736 career games, was asked if he had ever managed a situation requiring position players to pitch this frequently.
“I have probably been close, but not this close where we were,” Bochy said. “I mean, double-header, that series against LA, we used a lot of guys. You can’t risk hurting somebody— guys have thrown three days in a row. I didn’t know who my pitcher would have been. Belt would have been probably my guy, to be honest.”
