San Francisco Giants Three Standouts: Game Three, 2-25

The San Francisco Giants fell to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, and there’s plenty to take away from a game where a combined 22 runs scored.

The Cactus League slate rolled on Sunday, with the San Francisco Giants playing hosts to the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs got the better of the Giants, coming out ahead on a 12-10 final score. For San Francisco, the offense looked good, especially in the early innings when the regulars in the lineup were hitting, and with Steven Duggar launching a ninth-inning home run. The pitching wasn’t especially good, but they were really downed by one huge inning, a sixth-run fourth inning that the Giants never recovered from. The defense was very good, though, with players making strong plays on the infield and the outfield.

With all that in mind, here are three standout players from Sunday’s game:

1 – Kelby Tomlinson

One of the front-runners for the bench infielder jobs, Kelby Tomlinson started Sunday’s game at shortstop and had a productive day at the plate. He put together a solid at-bat in his first chance in the second inning, working the count as he normally does so well before lifting a flyball to fairly deep center field for the out.

In his second at-bat, Tomlinson showed the approach that has made him so effective as a major league pinch hitter. He took a fastball away and went with the pitch, shooting a line drive into the right-center field gap. With a big outfield and his speed, Tomlinson raced into third easily with a run-scoring triple.

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Tomlinson has a good approach to right field, but has never really taken advantage of Triple’s Alley in his home ballpark (except for an inside-the-park home run as a rookie in 2015). His line drive to the gap on Sunday shows that he can do it, and if he can do that with any consistency in the regular season, it will be a good year for him and the guys hitting behind him.

2 – Pablo Sandoval

Another front-runner along with Tomlinson, Sandoval had a mixed day on Sunday. He put together a pair of strong at-bats at the plate, with mixed results. In his first at-bat, he worked the count, fouled off a couple tough pitches and laid off more, but ended up swinging through strike three.

In his second at-bat, Sandoval turned on an inside fastball and yanked it down the left field line for a double. Importantly, he was hitting right-handed against the southpaw pitcher, and making solid contact as a righty has been a problem for Sandoval for some time now.

The good feelings didn’t last, as Sandoval immediately made a baserunning mistake. Kyle Jensen hit a groundball to shortstop, and Sandoval broke for third from second. He was tagged out after a short rundown. It’s a definite mistake, and something that probably wouldn’t happen in a regular season game. But for a guy who is (somewhat) in a battle for a job, it’s something you don’t want to see.

3 – Dereck Rodriguez

Sunday was one to forget for Dereck Rodriguez. He took the mound in the fourth inning with a two-run lead, and didn’t have a feel for anything from the get-go. He allowed six hits and one walk that turned into six earned runs, and recorded just one out along the way. That two-run lead quickly dissipated and turned into a four-run deficit.

Rodriguez didn’t have much luck on his side, with a couple bloopers and bleeders hurting him along the way. But he didn’t help his own cause by falling behind hitter after hitter, and the opposing batters took advantage when he was forced to come in. The big blow was a double off the left field wall that scored a pair of runs.

The damage could have been worse, but Casey Kelly (up from minor league camp) stranded the runner he inherited and stopped Rodriguez’s line from looking worse than it already was. Rodriguez was an extreme long-shot to make the 25-man roster at any point this season as it was, but this outing didn’t do much to garner any favor from the coaching staff.

Next: Three Standouts from Game Two

Honorable mention:

Gorkys Hernandez had a nice day, taking two walks and flying out to deep center field. He also made a great diving catch in center field, lunging to his right to make the catch. It’s still weird to see him wearing the number seven, though.

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