San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: Pence Giving Needed Lift
On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we discuss the spiritual leader Pence providing a much-needed boost for the Giants.
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Good morning, San Francisco Giants’ fans, and welcome to another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. On Saturday, the Giants came away with one of their best second-half wins, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks, 11-3, to clinch the series. Johnny Cueto (15-5) earned the win, while Archie Bradley (6-9) took the loss.
Elsewhere around the league, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Miami Marlines to keep their National League West lead at four games. The St. Louis Cardinals won, staying one game behind the Giants for the first spot in the wildcard. The New York Mets lost, falling to a half-game back of the Cardinals, and 1.5 games behind the Giants.
1 – Pence Heating Up At the Best Time
The Giants have long been searching for a player to put them on their back and carry them out of this miserable slide the team has experienced. Game after game went by, and no one could do such a thing. But in recent days, they’ve gotten that type of performance from a player that played a key role in two World Series championships.
Hunter Pence has put on his big boy pants, and is taking care of business just when the Giants need him to most. The right fielder got off to an incredibly slow start after returning from hamstring surgery, but the rust has worn off and Pence is swinging a mighty sword again.
It started in Chicago when Pence hit home runs on back-to-back days, which turned out to be just about all the offense the Giants would get against the Cubs. He went quiet again for a short time thereafter, but has caught fire again. In his past three games, Pence has collected 10 hits, including three doubles and a home run. He’s also taking walks, seeing ball four three times in that span.
On Friday against Arizona, Pence was the rally-starter on more than one occasion. He had his fingerprints all over rallies in the second, fourth, sixth, and 10th innings. He kept that trend going on Saturday, scoring four runs and crushing a home run to lead off the seventh inning. He’s scored eight runs in the first two games of this series, matching the Giants’ franchise record for runs scored in a three-game series without even getting to the finale yet.
Pence looks completely different from the hitter than would chase any pitch within three feet of the strike zone just a few weeks ago. He’s laying off those breaking balls down, waiting for his pitch, and crushing it when it comes.
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He’s even back to playing his usual tremendous defense in right field. On Friday, he robbed Mitch Haniger of extra bases by sliding on the warning track before faceplanting into the fence in front of the bullpen.
The Giants’ right fielder has been an emotional leader in the past, earning the nickname “Reverend”, but he’s also played a physical leader as well. Most notably, he carried the Giants’ offense through the late part of the 2013 season nearly by himself. Pence reaching that level of on-field dominance again would be a massive, much-needed boost for the Giants.
Next: Giants: It's Not Over Until It's Over
And that will do it for this edition of the Giants Morning Minute. Up next, the Giants and Diamondbacks will finish up their series with a day game. Matt Moore will face off against Zack Greinke.