Brandon Belt is considered day-to-day after leaving in the eighth inning of the Giants’ 13-7 win over the Cardinals.
Belt grimaced after taking a swing-and-miss against reliever Kodi Whitley. Manager Gabe Kapler and senior director of athletic training Dave Groeschner met with him near home plate before walking him to the dugout.
Kapler said postgame that Belt was experiencing neck stiffness prior to that swing, but the discomfort got exacerbated there.
“We’ll just wait until he comes in tomorrow and he’ll see,” Kapler said of Belt’s possible availability for Sunday’s day game.
Saturday was the first baseman’s first game back from the COVID list. He had walked in three of his prior four plate appearances, finishing 0-for-1 with two runs scored.
- Jakob Junis will start Sunday’s game against St. Louis — the finale of a four-game series. Junis has pitched 10 scoreless inning for San Francisco this year and hasn’t appeared for the River Cats since being sent down, so his arm should be rested.Since he’s not currently on the 26-man roster, the team will need to make a roster move.
- Darin Ruf socked his first home run of the year, ending a run of stunning bad luck at the plate. “He needed it,” Kapler said. Added Ruf: “Any time you need to get the first of something in the season, you put pressure on yourself to get it done. Whether it’s the first hit, first run, first RBI. As a pitcher, first win. To get the first one out of the way is big. And then the longer it drags on, the more it weighs on you. So it’s nice.”