On A Clear Day You Can Hit Forever

On a clear day you can hit forever, at the San Francisco Giants home park at least.  Blue skies and at times blinding sun helped 31 hits happen, including a bunch by San Diego in their strange eighth inning.  A parade of pinch-hitters dumped hit after hit off Giants relievers and the Padres turned a 9-2 laugher into a 9-8 squeaker, at least until the last half of the inning when the Giants scored 4.  The distinctly un-SF final was Giants 13 Padres 8.

The Giants not only hit 19 times, they seldom settled for singles.  They hit four triples for the first time at home in San Francisco (Belt had two), plus 4 doubles (Posey had two.)  Seven players had more than one hit in the game (including 3 with 3 hits), and 9 Giants hit safely (including pitcher Chris Heston, who drove in a run.)

The hit stats obscure the great outing that Heston had on the mound.  The no-hitter two starts back was a career achievement, but how he pitched in this game I think turned him into a starter for SF for a long time to come.  He's also an asset fielding his position and hitting.

(Now that I said that I had a weird feeling that the Giants may be about to trade a pitcher for more bat.  But let that pass.)

Anyway, three excellent starts against San Diego, one bad luck (and dead bat) loss, so a series win.  Colorado next, another division foe.  The Giants hit the Padres best starter and best reliever, so this hitting thing may be for real, even at home.  Travis Ishikawa rejoined the club yesterday, got a great ovation by fans taking their first opportunity to recognize his home run last season that won the pennant.  He wasn't among those getting hits today, and he didn't figure in the scoring.  But with Pence and now Aoki out for several more weeks, they need gloves in the outfield at a minimum.  Blanco continues to perform well at the plate and in the field.