The Giants-Padres game on Monday night was 0-0 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and it sure looked like the game was going to extras when pinch-hitter Hunter Pence’s 0-1 swing resulted in a routine pop-up.
Well, apparently the Padres have already forgotten about those pop-up priority drills they worked on for hours in in spring training, as Pence’s mile-high pop-up dropped untouched about 20 feet into shallow right field, right in between right fielder Matt Kemp and second baseman Alexi Amarista. And the Giants’ Brandon Belt scored all the way from first base, to give San Francisco a 1-0 win:
To be fair, this is a play that Kemp would usually make without too much trouble, but he was playing deep to prevent extra-base hits, as the baserunner isn’t going to score from first on a (normal) single. And Amarista is probably used to Kemp catching this ball, which likely played a part in him basically giving up on it.
Either way, the communication between the players has to be better there, and it’s ultimately a play that has to be made.
It also has to leave San Diego skipper Nick Green very frustrated. That’s a really good Giants team — and especially offense — the Padres were about to take to extra innings in a very difficult venue to win games, and to lose it on a play like that is maddening.
While Pence will look like the hero for getting the game-winning “single”, it was Johnny Cueto that was the real star. The right-hander threw a complete game, allowing just two hits and no walks. Cueto just signed a six-year, $130 million deal with the Giants this past offseason, and the early returns are certainly what the San Francisco front office hoped for.
This is the 11th win in the last 12 games for the Giants, and they’re now 28-19, 4.5 games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.
