© Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
It can be easy to forget how explosive a player Hunter Pence once was – and sometimes still is. But Tuesday night brought a glimpse of the Pence of old, as he drove in three runs to lead the Giants to an endlessly exciting 5-4 win over the San Diego Padres.
After Derek Holland was tagged for a run in the bottom of the first inning, Pence took it upon himself to respond in the second. Following an Aramis Garcia single, Pence scorched a ball to left field, hitting a 437-home run – the second-longest for the Giants and his third of the year.
The Padres added another run in the third inning to tie the game at 2-2. Again, Pence responded in the top half of the following inning. With Nick Hundley on first, Pence snuck a double down the first base line, driving in Hundley to give the Giants a 3-2 lead. He then proceeded to steal third base with Chris Shaw at bat.
The most controversial play of the game came in the fifth inning. With A.J. Ellis on first, Franmil Reyes – who like Pence, had three RBIs in the game – stepped up and hit a deep fly ball to left field. As Shaw tracked the ball and jumped for it, his glove was blocked by a fan and the ball dropped over the fence for a two-run homer that gave the Padres a 4-3 lead.
Shaw protested immediately and the Giants challenged the play. While it appeared part of the fan’s arm came over the wall, the play was upheld.
It appeared the play might define the game. But in the eighth, the Giants responded. A leadoff single from Evan Longoria was followed by a throwing error on a routine ground ball from Hundley. It moved runners to the corners before Brandon Crawford pinch hit for Garcia and walked to load the bases. In what seemed like a perfect situation next for Pence, he hit a dribbler to the pitcher for a force out at home.
But then Shaw, who has been red-hot in his last three games, stepped up and hit a bloop single to left field, allowing Hundley and Crawford to score and take back a 5-4 Giants lead.
.@SHAWESOME24 you are a gift to us all
Giants re-take the lead!
#SFGiants pic.twitter.com/Gzc7xKA2cj
— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) September 19, 2018
The cerebral baserunning from Crawford secured two runs in what easily could’ve been a one-run play. He was right behind Hundley coming home:
This is the baserunning that gave the Giants the lead. Crawford had no doubt that was dropping. pic.twitter.com/jIaOUjXxQU
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) September 19, 2018
In the eighth, Mark Melancon escaped a dangerous inning unharmed. He secured a double play ball after a leadoff single from Eric Hosmer before digging himself back into a hole. A single from Jose Pirela preceded a walk to Manuel Margot, leaving Cory Spangenburg with a chance to steal back the lead.
On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, Spangenburg turned on the pitch and hit an absolute monster shot down the left field line that tailed foul. It was a certain home run if fair, just nearly missing the foul pole. One pitch later, he shot a line drive that Longoria jumped for and snagged out of the air, saving at least a run and maintaining the Giants’ 5-4 lead.
In the ninth, the first two batters struck out before Evan Longoria hit a long pop-up down the right field line. Hosmer tried to chase the ball down at first and swatted at the ball while standing in fair ground. It was called foul despite protests from Longoria, which warranted another challenge from Bruce Bochy. Without any definitive camera angles to show the ball would drop fair, the call was upheld and Longoria grounded out next.
Will Smith came in for a save opportunity in the bottom half of the ninth. He struck out Wil Myers to start the inning before Freddy Galvis teed off on a breaking ball that caromed off the top of the left-center field wall for a double that was inches from a game-tying home run. Smith came right back and struck out Reyes, who had three of the Padres’ four RBIs in the game.
Finally, he struck out Hunter Renfroe to give the Giants (72-80) their fourth win in five games.