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San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: Belt Enjoys Going Home, Night Train Still Going

By Sean Bialaszek

Jul 25, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Derek Law (64) throws a pitch against the Cincinnati Reds during the eight inning at AT&T Park. The Reds won 7-5. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 25, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Derek Law (64) throws a pitch against the Cincinnati Reds during the eight inning at AT&T Park. The Reds won 7-5. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports /
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On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we discuss a slumping Belt enjoying being back home, and the Night Train still going strong.

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Good morning, San Francisco Giants’ fans, and welcome to another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. On Monday, the Giants dropped their eighth game out of nine since the All-Star break, falling to the Cincinnati Reds in game one, 7-5. Anthony Desclafani (6-0) earned the win, while Jake Peavy (5-9) took the loss. Tony Cingrani shut it down in the ninth for his 11th save.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were off on Monday, but benefitted from the Giants’ loss. The lead in the National League West is down to just 2.5 games.

Here’ what went on Monday.

1 – Slumping Belt Enjoys Going Home

While the Giants went through the road trip from Hell, Brandon Belt‘s trip was particularly Hellish. In the eight games, Belt went 2-33 (.061) with 17 strikeouts to just four walks. He had no extra-base hits, no runs batted in, and no runs scored. He got the homestand started on a much better foot.

Belt was moved down from the third spot in the lineup, finding himself hitting sixth on Monday. The little mental break for Belt, a way to take a bit of perceived pressure off him in the batter’s box, seemed to do the trick in this first game. In four at-bats, Belt picked up three hits, including his first home run of the second half, an opposite field shot that had a very loud sound off the bat. His third hit, a single in the ninth inning, came off the left-hander Cingrani, breaking an 0-7 streak against southpaws since the break.

After such a discouraging road trip, this game is a good sign for Belt. He battled hard in his at-bats, laid off tough pitches, and didn’t swing through on any of his six swings. With the Giants looking for a rhythm, getting their best hitter from the first half back in a groove is a good start.

2 – The Night Train Still Riding the Rails

While Belt was looking to get back on track after a rough roadtrip, Javier Lopez has been getting back on track following a really rough three months. He started the season with a 5.84 ERA, 1.865 WHIP, and .271/.407/.458 opponent slash-line in his first 35 appearances, but has begun to look more and more look the Lopez of old.

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Over his last eight appearances, dating back to June 29th, Lopez has faced 18 batters, and allowed only two to reach, both via singles. In that time, he’s inherited nine baserunners and stranded every single one of them. One of Lopez’s big issues earlier was his inability to retire opposing lefties consistently, but he has retired all 12 of those he’s faced in this eight-game stretch.

His overall numbers are the year are trending down, with a 4.15 ERA, 1.442 WHIP, and .227/.338/.364 slash-line.

Getting their veteran lefty killer out of the bullpen back in good form is another big boost for the Giants. Even though the 39-year-old seemed like he was nearing the end of the track, the Night Train is showing that he’s still shoveling coals into that steam engine.

3 – Injury Updates

There isn’t much in the way of on-field stuff from injured Giants, as the Sacramento River Cats had off on Monday, so Hunter Pence, Ehire Adrianza, and Joe Panik all didn’t play. But there’s still news on multiple fronts.

  • According to the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Shea before Monday’s game, manager Bruce Bochy said Panik is scheduled to finally re-join the River Cats on Tuesday. Pence is about a week away from joining the Giants, provided everything goes as planned, and Panik should be back a few days before Pence.
  • Matt Duffy ran curves on Monday and is said to be “over the hump” with his strained achilles. A rehab assignment could start this weekend. Duffy and Panik both took on-field batting practice with the Giants Monday.

Next: Giants Morning Minute: Potential Relief Pitcher Targets

And that will do it for this edition of the Giants Morning Minute. Up next, the Giants and Reds play the middle game of their three-game set. Matt Cain and rookie left-hander Cody Reed will take the mound for their respective teams.

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