Photo by Chris Mezzavilla/KNBR
SAN FRANCISCO–Forty five minutes prior to first pitch on Tuesday evening at AT&T Park, the San Francisco Giants announced a late lineup change.
Starting right fielder Hunter Pence was scratched with a tight left hamstring, and Pence was replaced in the lineup by reserve outfielder Gorkys Hernandez.
Though he wasn’t healthy enough to man the outfield or run the bases aggressively on Tuesday, Pence did appear in the game as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning and drew a walk.
After the game, Pence said that his injury didn’t affect his pitch selection, and that he was looking for a pitch to drive, but that he wouldn’t have been able to leg out an infield hit.
Bochy said that Pence’s status is day-to-day, but that with a day game on Wednesday, it’s unlikely Pence will return to the lineup before the weekend. However, because Pence rested on Tuesday, will likely take Wednesday off, and has the benefit of an off day on Thursday, the Giants are hopeful their starting right fielder will return to the lineup when the team plays in Arizona on Friday night.
“He’s (Pence) day-to-day, I think left hamstring, he’s got some tightness there so we had to scratch him,” Bochy said. “So he’s day-to-day and my guess is he won’t play tomorrow and with the day off, he should be ready to go in Arizona. He may show up tomorrow and tell me it’s cleared up and that he’s good to go.”
Prior to drawing a walk in Tuesday’s contest, Pence had hit safely in six of his last seven contests, and raised his average from .251 to .259 over the course of a week. However, Pence said the hamstring injury didn’t appear out of nowhere, and that the tightness has been building up to the point at which he needed to rest.
“It’s been kind of a build-up process, and it’s been getting worse and now it’s about getting it back to the point where it’s strong,” Pence said.
Pence was in good spirits after Tuesday’s game, and was encouraged by the consistency his teammates have shown at the plate of late. Though San Francisco is 3-3 on its current homestand, Pence felt that the at-bats the Giants were stringing together were more competitive.