San Francisco Giants & The Week That Was: Week Three Another Down Week

Play of the Week: Jake Peavy Doesn’t Act His Age

Jake Peavy is 34 years old. He’s got a cranky back and old hips. On Saturday night, to make a really nice defensive play in a tight spot, Peavy channeled a much younger version of himself.

In the third inning against the Marlins, Peavy was facing Christian Yelich with a runner on third, two outs, and a one-run lead. Yelich swung at a 1-1 sinker and buried it in the ground in front of homeplate. The ball dribbled out towards third base, but not far enough for third baseman Matt Duffy to have a shot to gun down the speedy Yelich for the final out. Peavy took matters into his own hands.

After falling off the mound hard towards first base, Peavy sprung into action, chasing the groundball that was about to tie the game. Peavy went in to a slide, grabbing the ball barehanded just to give himself a chance at retiring Yelich. In one fluid motion, Peavy popped up to his feet, turned his body, and launched an offspeed pitch to his first baseman Brandon Belt. The ball landed in Belt’s glove in plenty of time to put Yelich away and keep the score exactly where it was.

Peavy isn’t going to be able to give the Giants seven strong innings every time out anymore, but he showed on Saturday night that he still has that capability in him.

Next: Giant Killer of the Week