All-Star Ballots, Pence, Tejada, and Additional Notes

Justice delos Santos
Jun 22, 2016
3 min read

Yesterday was one of the few days where everything seemed to go right for the San Francisco Giants.

Johnny Cueto shined, the offense tore the cover off the ball by scoring the most runs at PNC Park in franchise history, and, of course, a win to erase the bitterness from Monday's 1-0 loss. It was a dream ballgame.

Unless you're Brandon Belt, who, despite being a member of the hit parade, had to endure the humiliation of being struck out by Pittsburgh Pirates' Erik Kratz. That wouldn't be so bad if, you know, he was a pitcher and not a catcher.

At least he had a good deal of fun with the situation.

____________________________________________________________________

With the Pirates on the ropes after being handed a humiliating loss, the Giants have a chance to capitalize in the final two games of this series and walk out of the Steel City winning three out of four.

This afternoon, Jeff Samardzija takes the hill for the Giants, looking to follow up the Bumgarner and Cueto with a gem of his own against the Pirates, a team where in 21 career games, including ten starts, he has a 2.25 ERA.

Despite a rough start to the month of June, allowing eight runs in 9.2 innings over his first two starts, the Shark picked up the slack in his last start against the Tampa Bay Rays, pitching a complete game while only allowing one run.

Samardzija's start against the Pirates isn't going to be a walk in the park, as he'll have to go through former MVP Andrew McCutchen, who is batting .406 in 32 career at-bats against the right-hander.

Despite having one of the best counters to Samardzija, the Pirates may have to be without their best outfielder this season, Starling Marte, who left the game yesterday in the eighth inning with left foot discomfort. It is doubtful that Marte will play in Wednesday's game.

Both teams in this series have been no stranger to the injury bug, as Matt Duffy of the Giants and Gerrit Cole of the Pirates have both landed on the disabled list.

The severity of Marte's injury is unknown, but his loss would be devastating for an already struggling Pittsburgh team.

Speaking of injuries, some of San Francisco's injured infielders are making some progress and should be returning in soon.

Kelby Tomlinson took off the cast which was on his sprained thumb, while Ehire Adrianza has made noticeable progress and should be running sometime within the next week. Adrianza will also be participating in minor league rehab games.

Matt Duffy is currently walking around with a boot, and his training to recover and get the Achilles back to full strength is an estimated three weeks.

Best case scenario for the Giants is that all three will be back after the All-Star Break.

As for the injured Hunter Pence, Andrew Baggarly reported via Twitter that only 13 days after the surgery, the right fielder was seen doing activities such as long toss and cone and agility drills before today's game.

While these activities are encouraging, it's not a clear-cut way to say that Pence is going to be activated earlier than usual. Still, it is fantastic to see him get after it.

____________________________________________________________________

The updated All-Star ballot for the National League was released today. Despite being Chicago Cub dominated, the Giants have achance to send Brandon Belt and Buster Posey to represent first base and the catcher position.

Belt, unless a voting miracle occurs, will not start, as Anthony Rizzo holds a 2,202,494 to 839,188 lead over the San Francisco first baseman.

Posey is the only Giant who has a chance of starting in the Mid-Summer Classic.

Yadier Molina currently has a 1,205,497 to 1,130,084 lead, but Posey has been enjoying success at the plate as of late and can mount a late comeback to swipe the spot.

The next update for both the American League and the National League is June 27th.

____________________________________________________________________

Yesterday, Ruben Tejada, who the Giants recently signed to a minor-league deal, hit his first home run for Sacramento last night, a three-run shot giving the River Cats a 4-2 lead.

It will be interesting to see where Tejada fits into the mix in regards to the backup infield position.

____________________________________________________________________

Here is today's lineup that Bruce Bochy is trotting out.

Ramiro Peña, one of the short-term fixes for Matt Duffy, is getting the start over Conor Gillaspie.

Gillaspie had a four-hit, four-RBI last night is heating up, but Peña has been swinging a hot bat as well, as he has a hit in each of his last three games, including a two-hit with a triple night.

Mac Williamson will get the start over Jarrett Parker tonight as well. Williamson had a plate appearance last night, grounding out while facing Kratz.

Denard Span CF Joe Panik 2B Brandon Belt 1B Buster Posey C Angel Pagan LF Mac Williamson RF Brandon Crawford SS Ramiro Peña 3B Jeff Samardzija P

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Tales from Section 307

All-Star Ballots, Pence, Tejada, and Additional Notes

Yesterday was one of the few days where everything seemed to go right for the San Francisco Giants.

Johnny Cueto shined, the offense tore the cover off the ball by scoring the most runs at PNC Park in franchise history, and, of course, a win to erase the bitterness from Monday's 1-0 loss. It was a dream ballgame.

Unless you're Brandon Belt, who, despite being a member of the hit parade, had to endure the humiliation of being struck out by Pittsburgh Pirates' Erik Kratz. That wouldn't be so bad if, you know, he was a pitcher and not a catcher.

At least he had a good deal of fun with the situation.

____________________________________________________________________

With the Pirates on the ropes after being handed a humiliating loss, the Giants have a chance to capitalize in the final two games of this series and walk out of the Steel City winning three out of four.

This afternoon, Jeff Samardzija takes the hill for the Giants, looking to follow up the Bumgarner and Cueto with a gem of his own against the Pirates, a team where in 21 career games, including ten starts, he has a 2.25 ERA.

Despite a rough start to the month of June, allowing eight runs in 9.2 innings over his first two starts, the Shark picked up the slack in his last start against the Tampa Bay Rays, pitching a complete game while only allowing one run.

Samardzija's start against the Pirates isn't going to be a walk in the park, as he'll have to go through former MVP Andrew McCutchen, who is batting .406 in 32 career at-bats against the right-hander.

Despite having one of the best counters to Samardzija, the Pirates may have to be without their best outfielder this season, Starling Marte, who left the game yesterday in the eighth inning with left foot discomfort. It is doubtful that Marte will play in Wednesday's game.

Both teams in this series have been no stranger to the injury bug, as Matt Duffy of the Giants and Gerrit Cole of the Pirates have both landed on the disabled list.

The severity of Marte's injury is unknown, but his loss would be devastating for an already struggling Pittsburgh team.

Speaking of injuries, some of San Francisco's injured infielders are making some progress and should be returning in soon.

Kelby Tomlinson took off the cast which was on his sprained thumb, while Ehire Adrianza has made noticeable progress and should be running sometime within the next week. Adrianza will also be participating in minor league rehab games.

Matt Duffy is currently walking around with a boot, and his training to recover and get the Achilles back to full strength is an estimated three weeks.

Best case scenario for the Giants is that all three will be back after the All-Star Break.

As for the injured Hunter Pence, Andrew Baggarly reported via Twitter that only 13 days after the surgery, the right fielder was seen doing activities such as long toss and cone and agility drills before today's game.

While these activities are encouraging, it's not a clear-cut way to say that Pence is going to be activated earlier than usual. Still, it is fantastic to see him get after it.

____________________________________________________________________

The updated All-Star ballot for the National League was released today. Despite being Chicago Cub dominated, the Giants have achance to send Brandon Belt and Buster Posey to represent first base and the catcher position.

Belt, unless a voting miracle occurs, will not start, as Anthony Rizzo holds a 2,202,494 to 839,188 lead over the San Francisco first baseman.

Posey is the only Giant who has a chance of starting in the Mid-Summer Classic.

Yadier Molina currently has a 1,205,497 to 1,130,084 lead, but Posey has been enjoying success at the plate as of late and can mount a late comeback to swipe the spot.

The next update for both the American League and the National League is June 27th.

____________________________________________________________________

Yesterday, Ruben Tejada, who the Giants recently signed to a minor-league deal, hit his first home run for Sacramento last night, a three-run shot giving the River Cats a 4-2 lead.

It will be interesting to see where Tejada fits into the mix in regards to the backup infield position.

____________________________________________________________________

Here is today's lineup that Bruce Bochy is trotting out.

Ramiro Peña, one of the short-term fixes for Matt Duffy, is getting the start over Conor Gillaspie.

Gillaspie had a four-hit, four-RBI last night is heating up, but Peña has been swinging a hot bat as well, as he has a hit in each of his last three games, including a two-hit with a triple night.

Mac Williamson will get the start over Jarrett Parker tonight as well. Williamson had a plate appearance last night, grounding out while facing Kratz.

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