Slater launches a pinch-hit grand slam

Game Recap | Box Score

Even though I had an early flight home the following day, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see Madison Bumgarner pitch at home. While he may not be the same pitcher he was in the early 2010s, there was no way I was going to miss his start. Unfortunately, he was only able to pitch two innings as the line-drive by Jose Martinez smacked into his pitching arm in the first, and finally couldn’t be ignored any longer. After coming out to the mound at the top of the third, he had Bruce Bochy replace him.

While the defining moment of the game was the pinch-hit grand slam by Austin Slater — who incidentally is 6-for-11 with nine RBIs and two home runs since being recalled from AAA — I was more impressed with some of the subtler things I noticed while at Oracle Park.

Big Panda yet again had an impact night, with a sacrifice, two hits, one of which was a home run and three RBIs. With a diving catch at third, it’s clear why Giants fans love their husky third-basemen. He plays with a joyousness of a man ten years younger, only in San Francisco.

As someone who has spent a lot of time over the past few years seeing Blue Jays games in Toronto, it was a pleasure not only to get to see Kevin Pillar but watch him hit for a single in the bottom of the second and then again in the bottom of the fourth.

Other than a three-run scare in the 8th thanks to Tony Waston, Dyson, Moronta, Melancon and Smith did an excellent job blanking the Cardinals, who were wearing their throwback baby blue 1980’s uniforms.