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Giants honor their past, Sandoval honors his own in Sunday win over D’Backs

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SAN FRANCISCO–On Sunday afternoon at AT&T Park, the San Francisco Giants committed to honoring their past.

Apparently, Pablo Sandoval took that to heart.

For the past week, San Francisco planned on honoring Ryan Vogelsong, the journeyman pitcher who spent 10 seasons toiling in the Major Leagues, the Minor Leagues and in Japan before reinventing himself with the Giants and helping the club to two World Series. And indeed, the Giants gave Vogelsong a brilliant tribute, allowing him to take the mound one final time so he could receive a standing ovation for the fans. But the ceremony was supposed to end before the game’s first pitch was thrown.

Instead, Sandoval kept it going all afternoon. One of just four current Giants’ players who owns one more ring than Vogelsong, Sandoval sent fans for a trip down memory lane on Sunday with a 2-for-3 performance in San Francisco’s 7-2 win over Arizona.

Sandoval was around for all of Vogelsong’s best moments –his seven postseason starts that all ended in Giants’ victories– and against all odds, he was around on Sunday when Vogelsong signed a one-day contract to retire with the organization that drafted him 20 years ago. After recording just two hits in his previous 57 at-bats heading into the Giants’ series finale against the Diamondbacks, Sandoval channeled the Sandoval of old –the one that was around when Vogelsong was pitching big games– and helped San Francisco honor an old friend with a win.

Vogelsong’s comeback journey was the perfect backdrop for Sunday’s game, considering he resurfaced with the Giants in 2011, long after most folks had stopped believing in him. And after two and a half dreadful seasons with the Red Sox and a forgettable few months with San Francisco, nearly everyone has stopped believing in Sandoval, too. While Sunday’s output from Sandoval was just a small sample size, it featured the type of improbable moment that Vogelsong became defined by during his career.

In the top bottom half of the sixth inning, Sandoval launched a solo home run to right field off of Diamondbacks’ reliever Jorge De La Rosa, marking his first home run from the right side of the plate since 2014. Over the past three seasons, Sandoval was just 6-for-86 as a right-handed hitter, and he hadn’t produced a single extra base hit against a left-handed pitcher. But on Sunday, he narrowly pushed a De La Rosa pitch over the wall en route to his first home run at AT&T Park since Vogelsong was his teammate.

Sandoval also gave the Giants their first lead on Sunday with a fourth inning sacrifice fly that gave rookie starter Chris Stratton an edge.

Pitching for the first time since his Monday start against the Los Angeles Dodgers was wiped out after one third of an inning due to a rain delay, Stratton was excellent for much of the afternoon against a tough Diamondbacks’ lineup he’s already seen once this season. After throwing six innings of two-run ball in a loss against Arizona three weeks ago, Stratton again logged six innings while surrendering two runs on Sunday. The difference, of course, was that this Sunday, he received enough run support to walk away with a comfortable lead.

Stratton also helped his own cause, recording his first career base hit with a single to right field off of Diamondbacks’ starter Taijuan Walker to lead off the fifth inning. Stratton’s hit ignited a three-run rally, and gave him enough of a cushion to withstand the home run he allowed to J.D. Martinez in the top of the sixth.

After the Giants spoiled strong outings from Jeff Samardzija and Madison Bumgarner earlier in the series, they took advantage of Stratton’s effort with their largest outpouring of run support since their 8-6 win over the Dodgers on Monday night.

Sunday’s start marked the fourth time since the middle of August that Stratton has thrown at least six innings while allowing two runs or fewer, and as the season winds down, the 27-year-old rookie is making a convincing case to factor into San Francisco’s rotation plans for next season. While fellow rookie Ty Blach and Minor Leaguers Tyler Beede and Andrew Suarez will all have a shot at winning a starting role next season, Stratton’s recent performances have put him in position to start Spring Training with an upper hand on his peers.

Aside from Sandoval and Stratton, a handful of other Giants’ players enjoyed their best performances of the week. Second baseman Joe Panik, left fielder Austin Slater and shortstop Brandon Crawford all reached base twice, while right fielder Jarrett Parker recorded a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly.

One night after Zack Greinke held the Giants to two hits over eight innings of work, San Francisco rebounded with a victory that inched them one win closer to avoiding the dreaded 100-loss plateau the team is hoping to evade over the season’s final two weeks.