SF Giants Press Clips Thursday, July 20, 2017

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1 San Francisco Chronicle Report: Giants bringing Pablo Sandoval back Henry Schulman SF Giants Press Clips Thursday, July 20, 2017 The Giants appear to be bringing home a World Series hero. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval is expected to sign a minor-league deal with the Giants as soon as he clears waivers, after the Red Sox gave up on him less than three years into a five-year, $95 million deal. MLB.com reported that Sandoval and the Giants have reached an agreement, with Sandoval expected to report to Triple-A Sacramento. The club would not confirm it because Sandoval has not cleared waivers. The ultimate goal is to bring him back to San Francisco. Sandoval signed with Boston shortly after he caught the final out of the 2014 World Series for the Giants. His time with the Red Sox has been a disaster due to injuries, poor performance and bad conditioning. He hit.237 with 14 homers in 575 at-bats since the start of the 2015 season. The Red Sox released Sandoval on Wednesday with more than $50 million left on his deal. They would be responsible for all but the major-league minimum between now and the end of his contract, after the 2019 season, meaning the Giants would be on the hook for less than $1.5 million total. The Giants would have to show some forgiveness to bring Sandoval back. He kicked the organization pretty hard on his way out the door, saying he had planned his exit for a year and that the Giants lied to his agent about a multiyear offer in spring training of his final year. Sandoval also said he would not miss anybody with the Giants except for manager Bruce Bochy and outfielder Hunter Pence. The Giants have a need, with third base prospect Christian Arroyo out until at least September with a fractured hand and Eduardo Nuñez on the trading block.

2 San Francisco Chronicle Giants reliever Will Smith shooting for 18 opener Henry Schulman The story of the Giants bullpen struggles in 2017 cannot be told without mentioning a huge loss. Lefthander Will Smith, acquired from Milwaukee in a midseason deal a year ago, was ticketed for the eighth inning until he blew out his elbow and underwent Tommy John surgery on March 30. Smith did not hesitate Wednesday when asked whether he hopes to be on the active roster next Opening Day. Hell, yeah, he said. You never want to get too far ahead because there are always setbacks, but it s a personal goal I ve set for myself. To achieve it, Smith is doing something counterintuitive. He plans to wait until the six-month mark postsurgery to begin playing catch, longer than the normal 4½ to five months, so he can further strengthen his arm. There is no rush because he will not pitch this year anyway, and he believes that could cut his rehab time on the back end. Smith, who turned 28 on July 10, hopes to have a normal spring training of bullpen sessions and live batting practice. The medical staff then can assess when to let him pitch in a game. Smith has had no real setbacks and has become an upbeat, near-constant presence in the clubhouse, keeping a promise to remain with the team for the most part rather than confine himself to the Giants rehab facilities in Arizona. Barring a trade, the Giants could boast a more formidable back end of the bullpen in 2018 with a presumably healthy Mark Melancon, Sam Dyson, Hunter Strickland and Smith. Trade talk: The Yankees deal for third baseman Todd Frazier and others Tuesday has heightened the Red Sox s interest in Eduardo Nuñez. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that Boston is expected to scout the potential free agent more thoroughly in the coming days. Nuñez s hamstring strain remains an issue. He was under orders not to bust loose on the bases Tuesday because of continuing soreness, and he did not start Wednesday. On the other hand, Nuñez is playing well. He had three hits Tuesday, including a walk-off single, one night after he failed to reach base for the first time in 34 games, ending the longest streak in the majors this year. He also hit a pinch single Wednesday. San Francisco Chronicle Giants rally to beat Indians on Posey s pinch double Henry Schulman For two games, the Giants looked like the competitive team they were supposed to be. They walked off with a win in the 10th inning Tuesday night then came from behind Wednesday to beat the Indians 5-4 on Buster Posey's two-run pinch double I the eighth.

3 "It's really big," starter Matt Cain said. "All of us needed it. The fans have been waiting for it and we needed to give it to them." Cain then revealed something that seems counter to the conventional wisdom that the Giants need to remake this team if they want to win in 2018 and beyond, starting with some trades ahead of the July 31 deadline. "They want to keep us together," Cain said. "That's been communicated to us." Said Posey, "It's been expressed that they believe in the group of guys we have here." This could be an issue of semantics. The front office has declared faith in the core of a team that is Nobody who works in the suites at 24 Willie Mays Plaza has said they are planning a long rebuild. To the contrary, everyone from Chief Executive Officer Larry Baer on down has declared its support for the group of players they have assembled. But they also have signaled they plan to be active in the trade market. Usually, potential free agents are the first to be moved. The Giants have just two, Eduardo Nuñez and Johnny Cueto if he opts out of his deal, and Cueto is hurt. It naturally follows that the Giants would have to consider moving at least some core players to get younger, more athletic and more potent players in return. Denard Span, who hit a double and a splash homer, hopes he is around for the final year-plus of his contract and that his mates are, too. "We know we've come up short," Span said. "But there's a lot of good talent here and guys in their prime. I hope they don't blow this thing up all the way." This would not be a conversation had the Giants played most of the season as they did against the Indians, who were possibly one Matt Moore throwing error away for a sweep. They won Wednesday despite a load of mistakes. Cain allowed three runs in a third-inning rally that began when he walked pitcher Carlos Carrasco, who had batted 15 times in in eight-year career with one hit, and ended with a two-run Michael Brantley single on an 0-2 pitch, the Giants' bane. The Giants twice failed to convert a leadoff double into a run. Kelby Tomlinson, making his third career start in left field, lost track of the outs in the seventh inning and allowed a runner to advance. Span got them within 3-2 on his fourth career splash homer. Told that was the fourth-most by a Giant since AT&T Park opened, Span joked, "You guys thought you were getting speed." The Giants were down 4-2 in the eighth when they got two breaks. One was not pleasant. Left-handed reliever Boone Logan hurt the lat muscle under his pitching arm throwing ball four to Brandon Belt and had to depart with two left-handed Giants coming up.

4 Brandon Crawford bounced a single to right off right-hander Bryan Shaw before the second big break. First baseman Carlos Santana let Conor Gillaspie's potential double-play ball get through to right field for an error that scored Belt and closed the gap to 4-3. Bochy played his Buster card with two outs and had Posey pinch-hit for Tomlinson. Posey had built the count full when Shaw threw a curveball. Posey whacked it to the wall in left to score the tying and goahead runs. Sam Dyson had about as scary a ninth as a closer can have, loading the bases and going 3-2 to All-Star Jose Ramirez before getting a fly to right to end it. San Francisco Chronicle Giants Bochy is Game of Thrones king for a day Henry Schulman Giants manager Bruce Bochy is a Game of Thrones fan. Broadcaster Duane Kuiper got him into the gory but popular fantasy drama on HBO. On Wednesday, Bochy got into the actual throne. After the Giants came from behind to beat the Indians 5-4 at AT&T Park, Bochy conducted his postgame news conference sitting on the actual iron throne from the show, which was brought to San Francisco for Game of Thrones Night at the ballpark Thursday. Bochy seemed to enjoy himself with one reservation. The kings who sit in this chair get killed off, he said. The Giants are encouraging fans to dress as their favorite characters from Game of Thrones, which began its seventh season this week. The Giants have not had many occasions to laugh during a season. Bochy admitted he would not have done the throne bit had they lost. We haven t had a lot of special moments, so you have to savor things when you have them, he said. San Jose Mercury News Giants catcher Buster Posey brightens day at pediatric cancer ward Gieson Cacho San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey has a history with John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek. The MLB star and his wife, Kristen, have regularly visited the pediatric oncology ward at the hospital over the years. It coincides with the mission of the Buster and Kristen Posey Fund, which provides grants to research hospitals and charitable organizations that support children diagnosed with pediatric cancer. As part of his visit, Posey signed autographs and answered questions. He was even open to dealing with inquiries into the Giants last-place record in the National League West.

5 Kristen Posey is the driving force behind the fund and was inspired by to tackle the issue when she read about Cannon Wiggins, a child who is near the age of their twins Lee Dempsey Posey and Addison Lynn Posey. The boy was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a cancer that affects the kidneys. Learning about Cannon pushed the couple to do more to widen awareness about pediatric cancer and raise funds for research. At the Tuesday event, Buster Posey gave away hats and blankets to patients and their families. He chatted with some patients at their bedside and offered encouraging words to families. The Poseys visit similar wards at hospitals around the Bay Area. San Jose Mercury News Reports: Pablo Sandoval in agreement to re-sign with Giants Andrew Baggarly SAN FRANCISCO The prodigal Panda is reportedly coming back to the Giants. Hours after the Red Sox placed Pablo Sandoval on unconditional release waivers, the third baseman reached an understanding with his former team on a minor league contract, according to multiple reports. Sandoval is expected to report to Triple-A Sacramento in an attempt to work his way back to the team where he starred for six seasons and won a 2012 World Series MVP award. Giants GM Bobby Evans said the reports were not accurate because Sandoval hadn t yet cleared release waivers; claiming Sandoval on waivers would mean assuming the roughly $49.5 million left on his contract. But while teams cannot make offers until Sandoval is a free agent, they are allowed to express interest. Sources close to Sandoval have been quoted as saying that he would love to return to the Giants. And while it might seem counterintuitive to try to piece together a team that looks more suited to be broken apart, there s a certain open-mindedness that could benefit the Giants when they consider the prospect of a nearly free 30-year-old player who has a history of success against right-handed pitching when healthy and motivated. The Giants are also dangerously thin at Sacramento due to call-ups and injuries. Third baseman Christian Arroyo is out for two months with a fractured hand after getting hit by a pitch. If nothing else, Sandoval gives them some organizational depth, with the chance for a comeback tale in the vein of Ryan Vogelsong, Travis Ishikawa and Conor Gillaspie. Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com was first to report that Sandoval would re-sign with the Giants. I wrote here about what a reunion between Sandoval and the Giants might look like. It s pretty rich, by the way, that the Giants are being cautious about this news breaking before they are allowed to make Sandoval an official offer and would be accused of tampering. Several Giants officials were livid after Sandoval signed with the Red Sox following the 2014 season, believing that David Ortiz and others had actively recruited him in the months before he hit the open market.

6 San Jose Mercury News Buster Posey pinch double sends Giants to a series victory over Indians Andrew Baggarly SAN FRANCISCO There are so many reasons to be pessimistic that the Giants can vault themselves into contention next season. There are deep deficits to address, critical areas in decline, and so much talented youth in the rest of the National League West. But when Buster Posey starts that fluid, right-handed swing, the Giants world still seems so full of promise. The Giants lone All-Star in 2017 came off the bench and won a game Wednesday afternoon. Posey whacked a two-run pinch double over the head of Cleveland Indians left fielder Michael Brantley in the eighth, closer Sam Dyson stranded the bases loaded in the ninth and the Giants won 5-4 to capture just their second home series since late May. They even managed to sell out the place two days after their record streak ended. The Giants announced 41,067 tickets sold, although it took a flood of dollar seats on the secondary market to make it happen. Those seats won t be sold in 2018 unless the Giants can restore some consumer confidence, and fast. Trotting the same core players out there would seem to be a poor strategy. And yet, after back-to-back late-inning rallies and a pair of one-run victories We re not far away from getting back to who we are, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. I know we got derailed here. But a couple tweaks and we re back to who we are. It s the kind of magic we used to have. It s nice to recreate that and get a couple of nice wins here. Bochy spoke from the postgame interview room, its podium replaced with a replica of the Iron Throne with its hammered swords. It s here as part of Game of Thrones night at the ballpark on Thursday. The only thing about sitting in this chair, I know that the kings sitting in this chair get killed off, Bochy said. Just as you can t get too attached to the characters on Game of Thrones, you cannot make any assumptions about who will stay and who will go from the Giants clubhouse either before or after the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline. The Giants do not have many pieces marked for quick sale. They are not posturing as if they will blow up the roster for the sake of blowing up the roster. And they might be doing more reassembly than disassembly; they reportedly have an understanding to bring back recently released Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval on a minor league contract. But within the Giants clubhouse, the desire is strong among players to stay together. Matt Cain, normally quiet on such matters, made a plea to the front office not to rip the team apart.

7 We believe that we can win, said Cain, who held the Indians to three runs in six innings while replacing a blistered Johnny Cueto in the rotation. These guys all want to stay together. Even though we re in a bad spot, we can still make something great of it. Denard Span, who contributed his fourth career splash home run, said he has tried not to get distracted by trade rumors involving himself or his teammates. But he echoed Cain s plea. We know we came up short this season, but we also know we have a lot of guys with talent in their prime, Span said. I hope they don t blow this thing up all the way. We re a piece or two away. Me personally, I hope to be here this half and next year. Posey will be here much longer than that. The sellout crowd saw the Giants rally from a 4-2 deficit in the eighth after Brandon Belt walked, Brandon Crawford singled and first baseman Carlos Santana s error on Conor Gillaspie s ground ball put the go-ahead run on base. Nick Hundley struck out before Posey hit for Kelby Tomlinson. Posey battled back from an 0-2 count, ran it full and fouled off a 95 mph cutter before getting his bat around on a slider over the plate. There s definitely an art to it, said Posey, of pinch hitting. I was able to keep my hands back and get enough of it. It was a masterful at-bat from a former NL MVP who continues to shine amid the summer muck. Posey is batting.329 and recently hit cleanup for the NL in the All-Star Game, even though he s somewhat miscast in that role on his own team. Posey s swing, and the Indians error that preceded it, helped to paper over a game that the Giants were poised to lose because of a multitude of small mistakes. In one sense, the Giants received so many elements that they have lacked this season. They received a quality start from Matt Cain, who replaced a blistered Johnny Cueto in the rotation and threw six solid innings. They received a rare splash of power with Denard Span s home run into McCovey Cove, too. And Dyson barely held in the ninth, getting a fly out to right fielder Hunter Pence after loading the bases on a single, a hit batter and a walk. He fell behind 2-0 to Jose Ramirez before throwing four consecutive strikes to end it. Yet the Giants nearly ended up on the wrong end because of a litany of little things: a throw from the outfield that wasn t on target, a leadoff double wasted by another double-play grounder, a walk issued to an American League pitcher who had all of 15 big league plate appearances, a mistake pitch over the plate on an 0-2 count. The camel s back broke many weeks ago. Yet the Giants keep piling on the straw. It promises to be a different group of players that Bruce Bochy will address next spring. But it might not be radically different. They have too much invested in their core to jettison it en masse. They ll have to

8 play smarter and cleaner baseball next season, regardless of what happens between now and the reporting date. But changes are coming, and some might happen soon. Eduardo Nuñez didn t start because of lingering tightness in his left hamstring; the next time he s held out of the lineup, it could be due to a pending trade with a team like the Boston Red Sox. Cain s role already changed to long relief after Madison Bumgarner took his place in the rotation out of the All-Star break. Cain transitioned back to the rotation when Cueto landed on the 10-day disabled list. Even if Cueto misses more than two turns, expect Cain to return to the bullpen in the near future. Those innings must go to someone like Tyler Beede, who is on a roll at Triple-A Sacramento and likely to be promoted soon. Cain is in the final season of the $112.5 million extension he signed prior to the 2012 season a deal that hasn t worked out for the Giants, but that they would never begrudge given the right-hander s accomplishments and contributions to a pair of World Series-winning clubs They re coming to the end of it now. Cain will be a free agent, assuming the Giants buy out his $21 million option for $7.5 million. A surprisingly strong and healthy April led to speculation that there might be mutual interest in another season together at a lesser salary. But since then, the 32-year-old has struggled and he entered Wednesday with a 5.56 ERA. At this point, the best possible outcome would be a satisfying denouement, with Cain able to take a bow after a series of relatively clean appearances. The Giants certainly would take more of what they saw Wednesday, when Cain held the Indians to three runs on five hits and two walks in six innings. Cain paid for his one lapse, though. He issued back-to-back walks with one out in the third inning, and inexcusably, the first one came when he lost his feel for the zone against Carlos Carrasco a pitcher who had one hit in 11 career at-bats. Francisco Lindor lined out on a 3-0 pitch, putting Cain on the door of escaping. Cain still had a chance to exit a scoreless inning when Michael Brantley followed with a single to right field, because Carrasco got a poor read as he started running from second base. But Giants outfielders have managed just seven assists all season, and right fielder Gorkys Hernandez could not make an accurate throw. Catcher Nick Hundley received it on the first base side of the plate, and by the time he twisted his body into position to tag, Carrasco had eluded him. Brantley advanced to second base on the throw home, which put him in position to score when Jose Ramirez lashed Cain s 0-2 slider for a two-run single. The Giants minimized a chance in the first inning, getting just one run on a rally that started with Span s leadoff double and Miguel Gomez s single. Brandon Belt popped up and the Giants needed a ground out from Brandon Crawford to score their lone run. Conor Gillaspie and Crawford hit leadoff doubles in the fourth and sixth, respectitvely, but neither scored. Gillaspie was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Kelby Tomlinson s comebacker to the mound; Tomlinson later grounded into a double play to strand Crawford.

9 And although it didn t end up costing them a run, Tomlinson, making a rare start in the outfield, allowed the Indians an extra base when he lost track of the outs in the seventh. San Jose Mercury News Giants notes: Hamstring, not a trade, forces Eduardo Nuñez from the lineup Andrew Baggarly SAN FRANCISCO Eduardo Nuñez is out of the lineup Thursday, but the Giants haven t traded him yet. Nuñez, who delivered the walk-off hit in the 10th inning Tuesday night, is being held out Wednesday s afternoon as a precaution because he continues to deal with left hamstring tightness. Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he wouldn t hesitate to use Nuñez off the bench as the club tries for a series victory over the Cleveland Indians at AT&T Park. He could feel it yesterday, Bochy said. He had orders to take it easy. Nuñez s ongoing hamstring issue might be a mild impediment but not an impassable one as the Giants shop him to contending clubs. While they don t expect to receive a treasure trove in exchange for Nuñez, he is an ideal rental acquisition because of his ability to play multiple positions and his contract situation. He s a free agent after the season. The Boston Red Sox continue to express interest in Nuñez, according to USA Today s Bob Nightengale. That makes sense, since the Red Sox need help at third base and are out on Todd Frazier after the Chicago White Sox dealt him to the New York Yankees. In other news, third baseman Ryder Jones was hit on the left wrist by a pitch at Triple-A Sacramento in his first game back after being activated from the disabled list and optioned. Jones had missed 10 days because of a right wrist contusion from getting hit. This one isn t as serious, Bochy said. But man, between Christian Arroyo and now Jones, it s been a weird year. The Giants are emptying the bench against the Indians. Buster Posey and Hunter Pence are getting planned days off. So is Joe Panik. Bochy said he wanted to give a start to Miguel Gomez, and second base was the only position where the manager was comfortable playing the rookie. So Gomez is in the lineup for the first time. MLB.com Posey comes off bench, caps SF rally vs. Tribe Jonathan Hawthorne and Jordan Bastian SAN FRANCISCO -- Buster Posey parachuted into Wednesday's eighth inning with one objective. After an error by Indians first baseman Carlos Santana thwarted a potential double play, the Giants called on their All-Star with two outs to erase a one-run deficit. Posey did just that, roping a pinch-hit two-run double off the bottom of the left-field wall, giving the Giants a 5-4 win over the Tribe. It was San Francisco's first Interleague series victory of the season, and the second time in as many games that Posey capitalized on a Cleveland error.

10 "It's nice to come through," said Posey, who worked the count full out of an 0-2 hole. "There's definitely somewhat of an art to [pinch-hitting]. There's certain guys that seem to do it really well." In Tuesday's win, Posey delivered a game-tying single two batters after Indians right fielder Brandon Guyer botched a catch in right field. San Francisco went on to pull off a 2-1 win over the Tribe in 10 innings. Sam Dyson escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth, retiring Jose Ramirez on a flyout to seal his fifth save since taking over as Giants closer. Matt Cain pitched relatively well in his first start since July 4, allowing three runs -- all in the third inning -- while surrendering five hits, walking two and striking out five. Denard Span drove in a pair of runs and highlighted San Francisco's day at the plate when he blasted AT&T Park's 115th splash homer -- 75th by a Giant -- and his second of the season. "We have a tremendous group of guys in here to be able to play good baseball," Cain said. "That's what I think we can keep doing. If we can keep getting on the right mentality and doing a lot of things right, we'll get this thing rolling the right way." Carlos Carrasco had another strong outing for the Indians, tossing six innings of two-run ball. Michael Brantley, who notched the 1,000th hit of his career in the eighth, drove in Carrasco in the third, and Ramirez followed with a two-run single. "Whatever happened now has happened," Carrasco said of the Tribe's 1-5 road trip. "We're just going to learn from that. Sometimes we're going to have some ups and downs. Tomorrow is an off-day, and then we start a new series on Friday." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Santana's blunder: The door to the Giants' rally opened in the eighth when Santana missed on a routine grounder that would have likely started an inning-ending double play. Instead, Conor Gillaspie's grounder took an unlikely bounce and darted past the first baseman, scoring Brandon Belt from second and pulling the Giants to within a run. "I think you're always surprised," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "I was surprised when Matt Moore tossed the ball away [on Monday]. It looked like that ball came up a little bit. It was getting towards the end of the game, infield gets a little hard and beat up. We got a break and we took it." "Bryan [Shaw] came in," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "And we're asking a lot of him to go through the lefties in the middle of the order. He got a weak single through the hole and got just what we're looking for, and the ball goes into right field. That's when things start going that shouldn't." More Giants' bullpen again strong: After Santana hit an RBI single to extend Cleveland's lead in the eighth, the Giants' bullpen again found its groove with two runners on, holding the heart of the Indians' batting order at bay. Cory Gearrin entered for Steven Okert and forced a groundout from Roberto Perez to limit the damage to just one run. San Francisco had produced 6 1/3 consecutive innings of scoreless relief dating back to Monday's game.

11 QUOTABLE "When those starters don't start, you have some pretty nice weapons at the end of the game. It came through for us today. -- Bochy, on having the likes of Posey available. "I know I made a mistake. I feel bad, because my team lost. But I'll never get down. I'll never get down. I'll try to work on my defense for that. I know this year I've played great, but this is something that happened. At the last moment, the ball was a little bit up. That's why I made the mistake." -- Santana, on his error SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS With his double in the eighth inning, Brantley became the 36th player in Indians franchise history to reach 1,000 career hits. Brantley is one of 87 active players with 1,000 hits in a career. LOGAN EXITS WITH INJURY In the eighth inning, Indians lefty Boone Logan dropped to a knee following his 17th pitch of the game. After the 95-mph fastball, which resulted in a walk to Belt, Logan grabbed at his left arm and was quickly met on the mound by head athletic trainer James Quinlan. Logan left the game with a lat injury, and he will undergo an MRI exam on Thursday to gather more information. He is likely headed to the disabled list. "It got him pretty good," Francona said. "We'll get him looked at [Thursday]. We'll know more. But it's just hard to imagine him going down like that and having it not be something where he's not going to miss some time." WHAT'S NEXT Indians: Following an off-day on Thursday, the Indians will host the Blue Jays in a three-game weekend set at Progressive Field. Righty Trevor Bauer (7-8, 5.59 ERA) is scheduled to take the ball for the Tribe in Friday's 7:10 p.m. ET opener against Toronto. Giants: San Francisco hosts the Padres for a four-game series starting Thursday at 7:15 p.m. PT. Giants ace Madison Bumgarner (0-3, 3.18 ERA) will make his first start at AT&T Park since April, and second start overall since returning from the disabled list. MLB.com Cain has seamless transition back to rotation Jonathan Hawthorne SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants manager Bruce Bochy had an inkling that things would work themselves out, that perhaps Matt Cain would make a start in the Giants' rotation sooner rather than later. On Saturday, Johnny Cueto landed on the 10-day disabled list with blister pains. And on Wednesday, Cain took his spot in the rotation, allowing three runs and five hits over six innings to give San Francisco a shot at a win. The Giants picked up the veteran, who was on the hook for his eighth consecutive loss, by putting together a three-run rally in the eighth for a 5-4 win over Cleveland. "They kind of had an idea with what was going to happen with Johnny," Cain said. "They did a good job of being able to communicate that I was going to start. It was easy to get back into the routine of what we do."

12 San Francisco's longest-tenured player started strong until he hit a bump in the third. He issued three walks, including the first of Indians starter Carlos Carrasco's career, to give the Tribe a chance to rally. Despite the mishap, Cain said Carrasco gave him a battle in the nine-pitch at-bat. "Even in that inning, I made a lot of good pitches," Cain said. "Obviously, walking the pitcher is not a good thing. But he fouled off some good pitches and made me work into that at-bat as well." Wednesday's start marked Cain's first since July 4. He threw 79 pitches over his six innings. "He did a nice job," Bochy said. "I'm sure he'd like to have that one inning back when he ended up walking the pitcher and those two walks. But really beside that inning, he located well. He had good stuff. The ball was moving well." Moving forward, the Giants will again call on Cain to fill Cueto's spot. The veteran is scheduled to start again when the Pirates visit AT&T Park next week. Cain's gone at least six innings in each of his last three starts -- a pleasant development. But this season could be Cain's last as a Giant. He has a $21 million team option for 2018 with a $7.5 million buyout. Though he didn't work with Cain on Wednesday, Giants catcher Buster Posey is quite familiar with the righty's routine. Posey said statistics don't tell the full story of Cain's season. "I think he's been pretty consistent this year; maybe the ERA doesn't show it," Posey said. "But in my opinion, he's had a little bit of tough luck with some inherited runners scoring. But it's definitely nice to get him off the hook." MLB.com Subject of trade talk, Nunez rests hamstring Jonathan Hawthorne SAN FRANCISCO -- A day after delivering the game-winning hit in the 10th inning Tuesday, Giants third baseman Eduardo Nunez was out of the lineup with some minor hamstring tightness, manager Bruce Bochy said. Nunez rejoined the team following the All-Star break. He had missed 18 games with a left hamstring strain. Bochy indicated that Nunez's rest was more of a precaution; he was available for a potential doubleswitch Wednesday. "He said he could feel it yesterday. That's why a couple times he wasn't quite going full speed," Bochy said before Wednesday's game. "He had orders to take it easy, if necessary." Nunez -- aside from his offensive productivity -- has been part of recent speculation as the July 31 nonwaiver Trade Deadline nears. USA Today reported Wednesday morning that the Boston Red Sox have their eye on Nunez, "who has been made available."

13 Nunez, set to become a free agent after the 2017 season, entered Wednesday having reached safely in 34 of his previous 35 games, posting a.358 on-base percentage with 24 runs scored. His walk-off hit Tuesday night was the first of his five-year Major League career. Jones hit by pitch, again Infielder Ryder Jones, who was activated from the DL on Monday and optioned to Triple-A Sacramento, was again hit by a pitch during Tuesday's game against El-Paso. Jones was previously sidelined with a right wrist contusion. Bochy said Jones was hit on the opposite wrist, though. Jones was drilled during San Francisco's July 1 game. "I think he's OK," Bochy said. "I think he'll be back in there.... OK to go today or tomorrow." Pence struggling offensively. July has not been kind to Hunter Pence. Pence entered Wednesday with a slash line of.145/.190/.236, to go with 14 strikeouts, in 13 games this month. Bochy said Pence is working to regain his touch at the plate. "Right now, he's trying to get comfortable up there," Bochy said. "He's not quite there since we came off the break.... The biggest thing with him is trying to stay in the strike zone as much as he can. He is a guy that expands. You just don't want to overdo it." MLB.com Bumgarner set to make return to AT&T Park AJ Cassavell The Padres already spoiled Madison Bumgarner's return to the mound last week. They'll be looking to do the same on Thursday when the Giants' ace makes his first start at AT&T Park since April 13. Bumgarner, of course, missed nearly three months because of a shoulder injury he sustained from a dirtbike accident in April. He returned last Saturday and looked sharp over seven innings of three-run ball. But he took a no-decision, and the Padres walked off in the ninth. Saturday marks only the sixth start of the season for Bumgarner, and the Giants have yet to win any of his first five. Two of those losses came against Padres right-hander Jhoulys Chacin, who has posted a 2.68 ERA since the beginning of June. Chacin needed 58 pitches to get through two innings against San Francisco in his last start. Yet, somehow, he settled in for a quality start. Things to know about this game The Giants beat the Padres in nine straight games to open the 2016 season. Since then, their fortunes have plummeted -- both in the standings and against the Friars. San Diego has taken 14 of 19 games against its National League West rival.

14 Bumgarner has held Wil Myers in check throughout his career. Myers' 37 plate appearances against Bumgarner are twice as many as anyone else has on the Padres. He's hitting just.152/.243/.303 against the Giants' ace. Catcher Hector Sanchez has nine homers since joining the Padres last season. Four of them have come against the Giants, his former team. MLB.com Perry's unbelievable moon-landing homer Chris Landers Gaylord Perry is a baseball legend. Over a 22-year career spent mostly with the Giants, he established himself as one of the best right-handed pitchers of all-time -- a Hall of Famer and 300-game winner with a 3.11 lifetime ERA, 3,534 strikeouts and two NL Cy Young Awards to his name. It's because of all that success that we feel comfortable saying the following: Perry was a really, really bad hitter. The righty played almost all of his career before the advent of the DH, so he got a fair amount of work with the bat plate appearances in all. His slash line over that span:.131/.153/.164, good for an OPS+ of -10 (yes, negative 10, meaning his OPS was 110 percent below league-average). Naturally, Perry's teammates felt compelled to give their ace some good-natured ragging -- none more so than Alvin Dark, his manager in San Francisco from One day during the '64 season, Dark and San Francisco Examiner reporter Harry Jupiter looked on as Perry smacked some home runs during batting practice. Jupiter told Dark that Perry looked pretty good with a bat in his hands and remarked that the pitcher might even hit a home run one of these days. Dark's response set in motion one of the weirdest coincidences in baseball history: "Mark my words," he said, "a man will land on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a home run." Jump ahead five years to July 20, Perry, now 30 and clearly established as one of the best arms in the game, was scheduled to start against the rival Dodgers. But there was something else happening that afternoon: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were about to become the first men to set foot on the moon. You can probably see where this is going. At 1:17 p.m. PT, Apollo 11 landed. Some 238,900 miles away at Candlestick Park, Perry stepped to the plate in the top of the third inning -- and, wouldn't you know it, he hit the first home run of his Major League career. As the righty told MLB.com back in 2009: "Well, about the top of the third, over the loudspeaker, they were telling everybody to stand and give a moment of silent thanks for the astronauts who landed on the moon. And I'd say 30 minutes later, Claude Osteen grooved me a fastball, and I hit it out of the park." Alas, by 1969 Dark had moved on to managing the Cleveland Indians, denying him the chance to say, "Hey, technically speaking, we did put a man on the moon before you hit a home run."

15 NBC Sports Bay Area WHY ARE THE GIANTS REPORTEDLY GAMBLING ON A PABLO SANDOVAL REUNION? Alex Pavlovic SAN FRANCISCO A day after Pablo Sandoval was designated for assignment, Bruce Bochy was asked about his former third baseman. He said he thinks the world of Pablo. He ll be fine, Bochy added. He s got enough to live on. Bochy gave no indication he was ready for a reunion. Behind closed doors, many added that they didn t want one, period. For two days over the weekend, I chatted with players and team employees about the possibility of Sandoval returning. I didn t find one who was eager for the move. Someone, and someone important, apparently did. According to Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com and Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, Sandoval and the Giants will agree to a minor league deal. Giants officials declined comment Wednesday afternoon because Sandoval still has not cleared waivers. Sanchez and Heyman are as good as it gets, however, so we must ask the next question: Why? Why do the Giants, in last place, possibly headed for their worst season ever and a rebuild, feel it s a good idea to bring back a player who hasn t had a good season since leaving in 2014 and left a scorched earth trail on his way to Boston? Perhaps the reason is Sam Dyson. Team officials are thrilled with the move they pulled, acquiring Dyson essentially for free after he was designated by the Rangers. Dyson is now their closer. Maybe the Giants feel Sandoval can be similar found money. Perhaps the reason is the sellout streak. The Giants, for the first time in seven years, are looking at nights where the park isn t filled. Sandoval burned bridges, but he still has some fans in the Bay Area and there have to be a few dozen boxes of panda hats in a closet at AT&T Park, right? Perhaps there s an old-fashioned baseball reason, although that s a bit harder to find. Sandoval posted a negative WAR in all three seasons in Boston and he played just 161 total games, posting a.237 average and a.646 OPS. But maybe Giants scouts see something there that they can fix, giving them a switchhitter off the bench and potentially another option at third. The Giants should the move become official will give their rationale. At some point, someone may have to explain this move to the clubhouse, too. After leaving, Sandoval said he only missed Bochy and Hunter Pence. Do I remember that story? one player said this week, Of course I do." Some players expressed a desire to give time to Ryder Jones and Jae-gyun Hwang, and to wait for Christian Arroyo to get healthy. Instead, the Panda is reportedly returning. Why? Maybe the question asked in the front office one was a different one: Given the way this season has gone, why not?

16 NBC Sports Bay Area POSEY MAKES SURE BOCHY'S "GAME OF THRONES" MOMENT COMES AFTER GIANTS WIN Alex Pavlovic SAN FRANCISCO The Giants had their press conference room closely guarded Wednesday, and for good reason. Inside, a replica throne was waiting for Thursday s Game of Thrones night, and it was waiting for a victorious manager. That set up a potentially awkward situation. Bruce Bochy has done so many morose press conferences this season, but Buster Posey made sure his manager didn t have to sit on a throne and discuss another loss. Posey s two-run pinch-hit double with two outs in the eighth gave the Giants a 5-4 win and allowed Bochy to soak in his Game of Thrones moment. Duane Kuiper is the one who got me watching it, Bochy said, looking comfortable. The only thing about sitting in this chair I ve got to be honest I know the kings that sit in this chair get killed off. I am a little nervous right now that Larry (Baer) wanted me to sit in this chair. Bochy was never going to be the one to pay for this season s downfall, but he has had to wear the tough losses. On Wednesday he got to enjoy a come-from-behind win, and it felt a wee bit bigger than that. For three days, the Giants have mostly played their brand of baseball. Only a poor underhanded throw from Matt Moore on Monday night kept them from sweeping the reigning American League champions. We have bits and pieces of it here, Matt Cain said. The biggest thing is to just not sit here and go down the dark hole of here we go again. Bad things do happen during the game but we re way more talented than that and we ve got a tremendous group of guys in here who can play good baseball. If we keep on the right mentality and get a lot of things right, we ll get this thing rolling the right way. Cain gave up three runs in his six innings, but the Giants trailed heading into the eighth. Bochy had gone with his Bomb Squad lineup, and that allowed him to pull a trump card out with two on and two outs. Posey hit for Kelby Tomlinson and he smoked a double that bounced to the wall in left. A few hours after pitching two innings in an extra-innings win, Sam Dyson stranded the tying run on third in a tortuous ninth. The Giants picked up a rare series win. These last two games are the kind of magic we re used to having, Bochy said from his throne. It s good to recreate that. NBC Bay Area Sports INSTANT REPLAY: FIVE TAKEAWAYS AFTER POSEY'S DOUBLE LIFTS GIANTS PAST INDIANS Alex Pavlovic SAN FRANCISCO The flip side of the Bomb Squad starting lineup is that it makes for one hell of a bench. That paid off Wednesday. Buster Posey came off the bench and hit a go-ahead double with two outs in the eighth as the Giants beat the Indians 5-4. A day after throwing two innings, Sam Dyson closed it out, clinching the first series victory for the Giants since their visit to Pittsburgh to start the month. Those are all facts. Here are five more

17 - Denard Span put one into the Cove in the fifth inning to get the Giants within one. It was his fourth career Splash Hit, getting him within three of active leader Brandon Belt. Span needs just 31 more to catch Barry Bonds. - Matt Cain gave up three earned in six innings, which is not great but not awful. Giants starters combined to throw 20 innings in this series, which is a step forward. - Kelby Tomlinson made his third career start in left field and didn t have any issues on fly balls. The weird part was his biggest mistake had nothing to do with playing out of position. Tomlinson forgot how many outs there were when he caught a ball in the seventh, allowing a runner to take an extra base. It didn t cost the Giants a run. - In his first career start, Miguel Gomez had a single, a grounder to short, and two strikeouts. - The Giants announced a crowd of 41,067 human beings. That, my friends is a sellout. Check back tomorrow to see if it s a sellout streak. Santa Rosa Press Democrat Giants rally to beat Indians 5-4 Gideon Rubin SAN FRANCISCO - Their worst season in years has afforded the San Francisco Giants few light-hearted moments. A second straight dramatic win against a pennant contender gave them one such moment, and it happened to coincide with a Game of Thrones promotion they were plugging anyway. "It's comfortable," a chuckling manager Bruce Bochy said, seated in the actual throne from which he held his postgame news conference. "We haven't had a lot of special moments, but you have to savor them when you have them and so we're having a little fun with this chair today." Buster Posey pinch hit a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Giants defeated the Cleveland Indians 5-4 on Wednesday. Posey, on a scheduled rest day, doubled off the wall on a 3-2 slider on the seventh offering from Indians reliever Bryan Shaw (2-4). He came through in a role he acknowledges he's struggled in. "It's tough," Posey said. "My pinch-hitting numbers are not very good, but it's nice to come through." Indians first baseman Carlos Santana booted an infield grounder that figured prominently in the threerun rally. With two aboard and one out, Conor Gillaspie hit a ground ball that skipped through Santana's legs. Brandon Belt, who drew a one-out walk off Boone Logan, scored and Brandon Crawford went to third.

18 Posey's hit scored Crawford and Gillaspie to make it 5-4. "At the last moment the ball took a big hop," Santana said. "That happens in baseball. I made a mistake, I feel bad about it." The Indians lost for the sixth time in seven games as they concluded a 1-5 West Coast trip. The American League Central front-runners fell to 4-13 in interleague and are winless in six interleague series. "We need something to happen," Santana said. "We'll keep fighting. Everybody wants to win." Cory Gearrin (4-3) faced just one batter in the top of the eighth. Denard Span of the Giants was 2 for 4 with two extra-base hits including his fourth career "splash" home run. Span doubled leading off the game and scored on Crawford's infield grounder. HE SAID "The only thing about sitting in this chair, I've got to be honest, the kings sit in this chair, they get killed off. (CEO) Larry (Baer) wanted me to sit in this chair," Bochy said. MICHAEL'S MILESTONE Michael Brantley collected his 1,000th career hit in the top of the eighth inning when he doubled off Giants reliever Steven Okert. SPLASH HITS Span's home run sailed into McCovey Cove for his second splash hit this month. He's hit four of the last six splash home runs going back to Aug. 20 of last season (Belt has the other two). TRAINER'S ROOM Indians: RHP Corey Kluber (neck stiffness) will have his next turn in the rotation pushed back at least two days, manager Terry Francona said. RHP Danny Salazar will come off the DL (shoulder soreness) to start Saturday's game and either Kluber or RHP Josh Tomlin will start Sunday's game. The 2014 Cy Young Award winner didn't throw a bullpen session on his scheduled between-starts throwing day on Wednesday.. Reliever Boone Logan left Wednesday's game in the eighth inning with a latissimus dorsi strain. "It could be somewhat serious," Francona said. "He'll be examined tomorrow." Giants: INF/OF Eduardo Nunez is experiencing lingering discomfort from a left hamstring injury he missed 20 games with last month. Bochy rested Nunez on Wednesday but said his condition isn't serious. UP NEXT

19 Indians: RHP Trevor Bauer will pitch Friday's series home opener against Toronto. Bauer lasted just 2/3 of inning in his last start on Sunday in which he threw 43 pitches and gave up four runs in a 7-3 loss to Oakland. Giants: LHP Madison Bumgarner will make his first home start since suffering a Grade 2 AC joint sprain in a dirt biking accident on April 19 as the Giants open a four-game series with San Diego. The 2014 World Series MVP gave up three runs and four hits including two home runs to the Padres on Saturday in his first start since coming off the DL San Francisco Examiner Report: Giants bring the Panda home Jacob C Palmer Pablo Sandoval was designated for assignment by the Boston Red Sox on July 14. With three more years remaining on a 5-year, $95 million contract, it shouldn t be surprising he cleared waivers without being claimed by another MLB team. That s where the San Francisco Giants come in, according to MLB.com s Jesse Sanchez. Per his report, Sandoval will be coming back to the Giants on a minor-league contract. He ll report to Triple-A Sacramento. The Panda played an instrumental role in San Francisco s title run in He hit.294/.346/.465 over 869 games in the orange and black from He s struggled with his weight throughout his career and was never able to offer returns on his huge contract with the Red Sox, for whom he hit.237/.286/.360 across 620 plate appearances dating back to the 2015 season. San Francisco Examiner Giants return to the blueprint, beat Indians again Jacob C Palmer AT&T PARK Solid defense, timely hitting and reliable pitching. It s been the formula for the San Francisco Giants over the last seven years, the franchise s most successful span by far. And for two games in a row at least, it s been working in the second half of an otherwise dreadful 2017 campaign. Maybe that s why Matt Cain said the front office has expressed some degree of confidence in the current group. We believe we can win, he said after the Giants 5-4 win over the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday. The guys upstairs believe we can win. I think they want us all to stay together. They ve communicated that to us. I think we ve got to do a good job of, even though we re in a bad spot, of making something great out of the year.

20 Naturally, with talk that big, it was Buster Posey who played the pivotal role in the team s secondstraight late-inning victory over the reigning American League champions. Cain made his first start days after being demoted to the bullpen and like most of his outings at home this season, it wasn t bad. The 32-year old needed just 79 pitches to complete six innings and a quality start. Cain has now given up three or fewer earned runs in all but one of his nine starts at AT&T Park this season. All of the damage he allowed came in the third, when he allowed back-to-back one-out walks to Cleveland starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco and leadoff hitter Bradley Zimmer. Michael Brantley and Jose Ramirez knocked consecutive singles into right field to give the Indians a 3-1 advantage. Really beside that inning, he located well, had good stuff, the ball was moving well, manager Bruce Bochy said of his starter. Just got away from him, his delivery there for three or four hitters. Denard Span chipped away at the deficit with a one-out solo home run in the bottom of the fifth. The center fielder turned on a low and inside slider from Carrasco and redirected it into McCovey Cove for the Giants 75th splash hit. The Cleveland bullpen failed to log a shutdown inning after adding an insurance run, though. Boone Logan started the frame, but had to leave after abruptly grabbing at his right foot following a walk to Brandon Belt. Brandon Crawford took advantage of Bryan Shaw, a righty who was thrusted into action early, by hitting a single. Then, a groundball through the legs of Santana allowed the Giants first baseman to score. Buster Posey was called upon as a pinch hitter in the eighth with runners on the corners. A single over the head of left fielder Michael Brantley cleared the bases and gave the home team a one-run lead. My pinch hitting numbers are not very good, but it s nice to come through, Posey said after the game. There s definitely somewhat of an art to it. Posey improved to 7-for-29 (.241) as a pinch hitter with the at-bat. Sam Dyson, the Giants closer while Mark Melancon remains on the disabled list, worked around a bases-loaded jam to earn his fifth save of the year. In 16.1 innings in the orange and black, Dyson has allowed five earned runs on 14 hits (no home runs). With three years of arbitration team control remaining on his contract, there s reason for Giants fans to get excited for the future. But with the team still 12 games under.500 this season, it really doesn t matter that Bochy s group has returned to the original blueprint for a short period of time. We re not far away from getting back to who we are, Bochy said. I know we ve been derailed here. In just a couple tweaking, I think we ll get back to who we are. Winter in July is coming. Bochy greeted the media in the press conference room of AT&T Park seated in a replica of the Iron Throne to promote the Giants Game of Thrones Night tonight.