SAN FRANCISCO — Joe Panik left Friday’s Giants game against the Cardinals in the fourth inning with a left groin strain after running to third base from first on Gorkys Hernandez’s double to left. Austin Slater pinch-ran for Panik and remained in the game at left field, while Alen Hanson moved from left field to second.
Changes in the field:
– Alen Hanson moves to second base (replacing Joe Panik)
– Austin Slater enters in left field— SFGiants (@SFGiants) July 7, 2018
Panik may have been able to score on the play, but a fan interfered with the ball, rendering Hernandez’s double ground rule and grounding Panik at third. Panik may still have been pulling up on his own due to the pain of injury.
If Panik had indeed scored, he would have broken a 1-1 tie to put the Giants up 2-1. As it was, Dereck Rodriguez, the next batter up, grounded out to Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong to end the inning without the Giants scoring a run. The Giants did add a second run in the sixth on a Pablo Sandoval solo home run.
