San Francisco Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: No Rain in Miami
The San Francisco Giants dropped two of three in Miami to close out the road trip, but at least there weren’t any rain delays this time. 3 Up, 3 Down from the series.
1 – Ryding High
Ryder Jones is getting plenty of playing time because of various injuries and underperformance, and he’s made the most of it lately. After a slow start to his big league career, Jones has gotten his feet under him and is beginning to show off some of the power that made him a good prospect in the system.
Jones collected two hits on Tuesday. His first was a long double in the right-center field gap, and the second was his second career home run. On a Kyle Barraclough fastball well up and in, Jones kept his hands in and got the bat head out in front, pulling the offering just inside the right field fair/foul pole.
He added another hit on Wednesday, and also worked a walk. In his last eight games, Jones is hitting .360 (9-25) with two doubles and two home runs. That’s a stark contrast from the .083 average (3-36) he put together in his first 11 games.
2 – Rookie Coming Through
Carlos Moncrief waited a long time to get to the big leagues, but he’s made the most of his first chance. On Tuesday, Moncrief was called upon to pinch-hit with the Giants down by a run in the seventh inning and Kelby Tomlinson on base. Moncrief worked a nice at-bat, and Tomlinson moved up to second base on a wild pitch. On the full count pitch against Junichi Tazawa, Moncrief lined a ball into right field, easily scoring Tomlinson to tie the game.
That wasn’t the end of Moncrief’s contributions. The next batter, Denard Span, shot another hit into right field, and Moncrief challenged Giancarlo Stanton‘s arm. A good throw likely would have nailed the runner, but Stanton’s throw sailed into the seats behind third base to allow Moncrief to score. Span moved up to third, and would score on a Hunter Pence hit that followed. Moncrief made a gutsy move, and it paid dividends by putting the team ahead and adding another insurance run.
Moncrief saw another pinch-hit opportunity on Wednesday, although the game was well out of hand by that point. The rookie put together another good at-bat and crushed a ball, but the 107-mile-per-hour line drive went right to first baseman Tomas Telis.
3 – Pence Stays Hot
After such a rough and uncharacteristic start to the season, Hunter Pence has found his swing and is providing some pop in the lineup again. He picked up hits in all three games against the Marlins, five hits in total, and contributed three RBI.
Pence has played much better of late, posting a .333/.382/.569 and driving in 12 runs in 14 games since the calendar turned to August. In his past 24 games, he’s batting a much more palatable .290, helping to drive his season average up to .256. There’s still work to be done here, but Pence showing something closer to his previous form is a good sign.