SF Giants Press Clips Wednesday, April 19, 2017 San Francisco Chronicle Giants win in 11 innings in Buster Posey’s return Henry Schulman KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On the night Bruce Bochy was hospitalized in Miami with a heart arrhythmia in August, the Giants made him stress through 14 innings before they won. Bochy had another stressor Tuesday night as he rested at home in San Diego from a morning procedure to fix another arrhythmia. His TV surely was on for all 11 innings before the Giants sneaked out of Kauffman Stadium with a 2-1 victory “I hope he wasn’t watching it,” acting manager Ron Wotus said. “He has a knack for knowing when to take off, I’ll tell you that.” Regardless of who was manning the tiller, the Giants needed to win in their first game in Kansas City since Game 7 of the 2014 World Series, and not for nostalgia’s sake. A loss would have left them 5-10. Though history shows that is not a death knell for a team with playoff aspirations, the math is not pretty, starting with the need to win five in a row just to reach .500. 1 Joe Panik, whose two-out single in the 11th brought Nick Hundley home with the go-ahead run, called it a “character win.” It also was the Giants’ first one-run win in six one-run games. “Games like this you want to win,” Wotus said. “When you lose these extra-inning games, it’s tough the next day, especially where we’ve been.” Hundley was catching despite Buster Posey’s return from the concussion list. The team elected to ease Posey back as the designated hitter. He had three hits. Wotus believes Posey will DH again Wednesday night rather than catch Madison Bumgarner, but Posey could talk his way behind the plate. The Giants’ pitching standout Tuesday was not on the 2014 postseason roster. Matt Cain built on his five-inning win against the Diamondbacks at home last Wednesday with seven better innings against the Royals. He held them to four hits, one a solo homer by Whit Merrifield in his 2017 Kansas City debut. “It was a good day,” said Cain, who had not had many over the previous four seasons. If Merrifield faces Bumgarner on Wednesday, it will not be the first time. They are from the same area of North Carolina and played against one another as kids. In fact, Merrifield told Kansas City writers that Bumgarner drilled him when they were about 11. Bumgarner laughed when he was told and said, “I don’t remember that. I’m sure it was an accident.” A bullpen that has settled nicely since its opening-week failures added four shutout innings. Steven Okert threw a huge pitch, getting Eric Hosmer to ground out with the bases loaded to end the eighth inning. Derek Law pitched two innings for the win. His night and the 10th inning ended when he got Hosmer to ground into an eerie double play with two aboard. Just as he did in the third inning 2 of Game 7 in 2014, Hosmer grounded to Panik, who fed to Brandon Crawford, who relayed to Brandon Belt only to have Hosmer called safe at first. Just as in 2014, replay coaches Shawon Dunston and Chad Chop urged a challenge and got the call reversed. “It’s funny, the first game back here, and it’s the same deal,” Panik said, “me to Crawford to Belt to Dunston and Chop, 4-6-3 to I don’t know what numbers. Double-X’s, I guess.” Lefty Scott Alexander got the first two outs in the 11th before Hundley dropped a double down the left-field line. Panik lined a ball to right-center that Lorenzo Cain somehow got close to catching with a dive. Cain short-hopped it and Hundley scored. Mark Melancon got his third save, but it was scary. Two Royals singled before he got his third strikeout of the inning (Raul Mondesi) to end a win against the majors’ worst clutch-hitting team. The Royals are 13-for-87 (.149) with runners in scoring position. San Francisco Chronicle Giants manager Bruce Bochy undergoes ‘minor’ heart procedure Henry Schulman KANSAS CITY — Giants manager Bruce Bochy was resting at his house in San Diego on Tuesday night after undergoing what the team described as a “minor ablation procedure” to repair an abnormal heart rhythm. Bochy underwent the procedure in San Diego on Tuesday morning and will miss the two games in Kansas City. The Giants are off Thursday and the club hopes Bochy can return to the dugout for Friday night’s game in Denver. This marks the third time in three seasons that Bochy has been away from the team because of heart-related issues. He was feeling symptoms of the arrhythmia during the homestand and made an appointment to see his physician in San Diego on Monday morning. 3 “I knew he was going in to get checked out, and we discussed that this was a possibility,” acting manager Ron Wotus said before Tuesday night’s game. Wotus and Bochy last spoke Sunday in San Francisco, but they have texted since then. Bochy, who turned 62 on Sunday, underwent an emergency procedure to insert two stents into a blocked artery at the start of spring trainng in February 2015. Last August in Miami, Bochy was hospitalized for observation overnight and missed one game because of a heart arrhythmia. He did not have a procedure in Miami. Doctors adjusted his medication instead. Tuesday’s procedure was to repair an atrial flutter, which the Mayo Clinic website describes as a common arrhythmia caused by the upper chamber of the heart beating too quickly, causing the heart to beat in a “fast, regular rhythm.” The Mayo website says that in an ablation procedure, usually done through a catheter, doctors scar or destroy the tissue that causes the flutter. Tuesday’s procedure did not require Bochy to be hospitalized. “Hopefully, he’ll get this taken care of and get back to a normal life,” pitcher Madison Bumgarner said. “He’s had a little bit of a tough time the last few years with his heart. We’re all thinking about him. It seems like he’s doing pretty good, from what we’ve heard.” Catcher Buster Posey said he hopes Bochy takes the time he needs to make sure he is cleared and able to manage. Baseball, Posey said, “is a secondary thing in life.” Bochy is in the first year of a three-year contract extension. Though his recent medical issues have fueled speculation that he might retire prematurely, Bochy has said he has no plans to leave the dugout. In a March interview with Chronicle national baseball reporter John Shea, Bochy said he had no plans to step down as long as he has a chance to win with the Giants. 4 “I’m hungry to win again. I want to get back,” Bochy said. “I want to win another championship. That’s what drives me.” Asked about his ultimate decision to retire, Bochy said, “They all say you’ll know. You’ll know when it’s time. It’ll hit you. It’ll hit you on the mental side or even the physical side. Something’s going to hit you.” San Francisco Chronicle With Buster Posey back, Tim Federowicz designated for assignment Henry Schulman KANSAS CITY — The Giants opted to keep a second left-hander in the bullpen rather than a third catcher. When they activated Buster Posey from the disabled list before Tuesday night’s game, they designated catcher Tim Federowicz for assignment and retained reliever Steven Okert . The Giants lack experienced catching depth and have to hope that Federowicz clears waivers and accepts an outright assignment to Triple-A Sacramento. Federowicz, 29, spent six games with the Giants in Posey’s absence. He started Thursday’s 3-1 loss to Colorado and pinch hit two nights earlier, going 0-for-2 with a walk combined. Federowicz’s week in the majors was costly. The Giants had to clear a 40-man spot when they purchased his contracted and designated pitcher Clayton Blackburn , whom they then traded to the Rangers for 20-year-old infield prospect Frandy De La Rosa . Had 40-man-roster catcher Trevor Brown been healthy, he probably would have been promoted instead, but he is on the disabled list with hip and ankle injuries. Brown began a rehab assignment with Sacramento on Tuesday. Manager Bruce Bochy hinted last week that the Giants would keep Okert after recalling him from Sacramento to replace outfielder Jarrett Parker . They wanted the extra pitcher for the two games in an American League Park and the three at Coors Field. Posey missed six games and most of a seventh after Arizona’s Taijuan Walker hit him in the helmet with a 94-mph fastball in the first inning of the April 10 home opener. He returned as 5 the designated hitter Tuesday. Acting manager Ron Wotus said there is a “better possibility” of Posey DHing again Wednesday rather than catching Madison Bumgarner . “We just felt like it was a good move right now, where the season falls,” Posey said. “It makes sense right now.” Blessed replay: A TV gimmick might have saved the Giants in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series, former pitcher Jeremy Affeldt revealed. Fans remember the great double play that Joe Panik and Brandon Crawford turned in the third inning of a 2-2 game.