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San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: Giants Win! Plus Rumors and Injuries

By Sean Bialaszek

Jul 30, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Eduardo Nunez (10) hits an rbi double during the fourth inning of the game against the Washington Nationals at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 30, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Eduardo Nunez (10) hits an rbi double during the fourth inning of the game against the Washington Nationals at AT&T Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports /
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On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we discuss the Giants doing some little things to get a win, plus a trade rumor and more injury updates.

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Good morning, San Francisco Giants’ fans, and welcome to another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. On Saturday, the Giants snapped a three-game losing streak, earning a 5-3 win over the Washington Nationals, their third win of the second half. Derek Law (4-1) earned the win while former Giant Yusmeiro Petit (3-2) took the loss. Santiago Casilla worked a clean ninth inning for his 23rd save.

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost 4-2 to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday, and also lost a game in the division to the Giants. San Francisco’s lead in the National League West is now at two games. Yesterday was the first day the Giants gained ground on the Dodgers since July 8th, over three weeks ago.

Here’s what’s going on in the Giants’ world.

1 – Giants Do Little Things to Get a Win

Saturday’s game followed a familiar pattern early for the Giants. In the third inning, a break that didn’t go their way (in this case, a borderline pitch that could have been called strike three to end the inning was instead ball four) resulted in runs for the Nationals on a two-run home run from Anthony Rendon. An extra run an inning later turned it into a 3-0 game, a spot the Giants have found themselves in quite often lately.

But Saturday was a bit different. Instead of flailing helplessly until the ninth and taking another one in the loss column, the Giants fought back. It started in the fourth inning, when new Giant Eduardo Nunez smacked a bases-loaded double into right-center field, scoring a pair of runs. Angel Pagan followed with a productive out (something they couldn’t buy during their slump) to score another run and even the score.

In the seventh, recently returned second baseman Joe Panik put the Giants ahead with a sacrifice fly (those darn productive outs again), and the team added an insurance run when Trevor Brown took a bases-loaded walk.

This looked more like the Giants team that went into the All-Star break with the best record in baseball. An early deficit didn’t scare them, and they kept grinding through at-bats. They still have some kinks to work out (for example, defensive execution has been less than stellar and they again left a lot of men on base), but this is a good start to getting things back on track.

2 – Trade Rumor

The hot stove is really starting to catch fire, and the Giants are apparently involved in conversations for an outfielder. The Giants are one of multiple teams still talking to the Cincinnati Reds for outfielder Jay Bruce, in competition with the New York Mets and Dodgers, at least.

The Giants had an opening in right field for the past eight weeks or so, but Hunter Pence‘s return means that position is no longer in flux. Denard Span is in center field, and Bruce has only played center field once since his rookie year in 2008. Angel Pagan is in left field, but it’s not as if that is set in stone. There’s also Mac Williamson and Gregor Blanco as depth outfielders on the roster.

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Bruce would be good insurance in case Pence’s injury issues come back again, and could play left field while Pagan takes on a lesser role. The team made him buy into moving to left field, but getting him to buy into a bench role would be a lot harder. But the team would have a lot bigger price to pay to get Bruce away from the Reds.

Bruce made a good audition tape during his series with the Giants last week, picking up four home runs in three games. Playing at AT&T Park has never been a problem for Bruce, with a career .319/.381/.574 slash-line, six doubles, and six home runs in 25 games in the Bay.

Of course, this could just be a tactic to drive up the price for their competitors. No one really knows at this stage of the process.

3 – Injury Updates

  • Hunter Pence and Joe Panik are back in the bigs!
  • Denard Span was out of Saturday’s lineup with a bruised quad after banging legs with Nats’ first baseman Clint Robinson on Friday. He’s questionable for Sunday. Brandon Crawford is also questionable because of a sore hand.
  • Ehire Adrianza is still rehabbing with the River Cats, and played all nine innings at shortstop on Saturday. He went 0-3 with a walk.
  • Matt Duffy joined Adrianza in Sacramento’s lineup for the first game of his rehab assignment (and first career game in Triple-A). He picked up a hit in his second at-bat, breaking up a string of 11 straight retired by Troy Scribner to open the ballgame. He was pulled after five innings, his scheduled length for the night.
  • Cory Gearrin is also now in Sacramento on rehab. Although he didn’t pitch last night, he did pitch on Friday night, and worked a perfect inning with a pair of strikeouts. He threw 12 pitches, eight for strikes.

Next: Giants Morning Minute: Meet the New Guy

And that will do it for this edition of the Giants Morning Minute. Up next, the Giants and Nationals finish off their four-game set with a day game. The Giants send Matt Cain to the mound, looking for a split, while Gio Gonzalez goes for the Nats with a series win in sight.

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