SAN FRANCISCO – Jake Peavy remembered his last big league home run. It came in spring training off Vicente Padilla.
He remembered his last big league home run that actually counted, too. It came off Brad Penny, in 2006 for the San Diego Padres.
The neatest part of Peavy’s home run wasn’t that it was his first in nine years. It wasn’t that he’s a speck away from being legally blind, even. It wasn’t that he became the fifth Giants pitcher to homer this season, and the fourth (!) in the past 13 games. It wasn’t that he forgot he was due up second in the fourth inning and didn’t even have time to put on batting gloves as he rushed to the on-deck circle.
The neatest part is that nine years could go by between home runs, that Peavy could be playing for his fourth big league team since then – and when he went deep again, he did it with the same manager leaning against the dugout rail.
“Oh, I know Jake well,” said Bruce Bochy, after the Giants’ 5-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. “He hasn’t changed a bit. That’s the way he was when he came up at 20 years old.”
It’s Bochy’s duty as a manager to have compassion for his players, but to make dispassionate decisions. That’s not easy with Peavy. In the sixth inning, Bochy walked to the mound with the tying runs on base and two outs. He did not take the baseball. He let Peavy stay in the game, even though he was fully aware of the strong statistical trend: opponents begin to tee off on Peavy the third time through the lineup.
Peavy got a pop-up. He pumped his fist a half-dozen times while it was still in the air.
Ah, but Bochy couldn’t take it to the cash window. Peavy convinced Bochy in the dugout that he had enough to start the seventh.
“Two doubles later, I found out he lied to me,” said Bochy, tongue in cheek.
It will be interesting to see just how far Peavy’s powers of persuasion will allow him to go in his last handful of starts, and beyond. Overall, though, the Giants have to be thrilled at his ability to make pitches and execute a game plan the first two times through the order. However they renovate their rotation after the season, they will rely on Peavy to be a furniture piece in the room. Maybe more of an end table than a six-person sectional sofa. Maybe not the rug that pulls everything together. But an important, functional piece nonetheless.
Bochy just knows he has to be careful with Peavy. He has to use a coaster, lest he leave a watermark. Better he learn that lesson now.
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According to the Baseball-reference.com Play Index, the Giants are the 15th team since 1901 to receive home runs from five pitchers in one season.
The last team to do it was the 2002 Dodgers, which I happened to cover. I still have no idea how Hideo Nomo, Odalis Perez or Omar Daal went deep, to say nothing of all three (plus Andy Ashby and Kevin Brown).
Before those Dodgers, no team had homers from five different pitchers since the 1980 Pirates. That staff featured Rick Rhoden and Don “Caveman” Robinson, two pitchers who were legendary at the plate.
The Giants’ nine home runs by pitchers are the most in franchise history since 1934. And they’re the most by any major league team since the 2001 Rockies, when Mike Hampton hit seven of their 10 homers.
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While Brandon Crawford missed time with oblique and calf issues, Ehire Adrianza made most of the starts at shortstop. It wasn’t because of his bat.
Wouldn’t you know it? Just as Crawford is on the verge of returning, Adrianza is becoming a difference maker at the plate.
He drove in runs with a double and a triple in the Giants’ 5-3 victory Wednesday night. Earlier on the homestand, he mashed a foul fly into McCovey Cove. He’s getting confidence with more playing time, and maybe it helps that Double-A manager Jose Alguacil, who knows him better than any coach in the system, has been around the past few days.
Anyway, Giants fans who bleated in protest on social media while Adrianza struggled at the plate are getting an idea why the coaching staff and front office have stuck with him for so long.
“It’s good to see him get that confidence back and take some good swings,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “My guess is we’ll see Brandon back when we get back (Friday). But it’s good to see A.D. get on track.”
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Hunter Strickland had to get back on track in a hurry after hitting a batter and issuing a bases-loaded walk in Tuesday night’s ugly loss. Bochy wanted to stay away from using Strickland but had no choice after Mike Broadway loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth inning of a 5-2 game.
Strickland entered and got a double-play grounder and a pop-up to limit the damage to one run.
After the game, Bochy said he and Strickland had a chat earlier in the day.
“We did talk a little today,” Bochy said. “Sometimes he wants to bull his way through these hitters. That’s a tough night he had (Tuesday) but he bounced back and saved us.”
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Marlon Byrd continues to collect extra-base hits to the opposite field. And he continues to inch closer to vesting an $8 million option for next season. He’ll be 38 years old and this seems like a very bad idea. Then again, it’s so hard to find right-handed power that plays at AT&T Park. And Bochy loves him some right-handed power.
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Does Jay Bruce always have to represent the potential winning run in the ninth inning every time the Reds face the Giants? I’m starting to think it’s in his contract, or something.
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How about Single-A San Jose? The Giants trailed 4-0 in the fifth inning of Game 3 and appeared to be on the verge of getting swept in their best-of-5 series with Visalia. They came back to win, then pulled out extra-inning victories in Games 4 and 5 with Angel Villalona hitting homers in bonus panels on consecutive nights. Now it's on to face Rancho Cucamonga in a final series that pits Giants and Dodgers affiliates.
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Who cares if Barry Zito isn't stretched out to start, or that Tim Hudson might only have an inning or two in him if his hip continues to grind? You only need a moment to tip your cap. And that's all we're after. Hopefully the memories are thick on Sept. 26 at the Coliseum.
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Please, Mike Broadway. Just once, use this as your walk-out music.
The post Extra Baggs: Jake Peavy goes deep and tests Bruce Bochy's faith, Adrianza sizzles at the plate, Strickland gets a pep talk, etc. appeared first on Giants Extra.