SF Giants Press Clips Wednesday, April 26, 2017
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SF Giants Press Clips Wednesday, April 26, 2017 San Francisco Chronicle Giants lose; Christian Arroyo gets 1st MLB hit off Clayton Kershaw Henry Schulman The baseball that Christian Arroyo sent into left field for his first big-league hit surely will be placed in a display box, with a brass plate noting the date, inning, where the ball went and the pitcher who threw it. Arroyo and his family would have cherished the shrine even if the pitcher’s name had been Heath Dinglefroom. How wonderful for them that it actually will read “Clayton Kershaw.” Arroyo’s family was in the stands to see his first-inning hit against one of the greatest ever to take the mound. They stuck around to see another ho-hum Kershaw triumph at AT&T Park, a 2-1 Dodgers victory that — believe it or not — cost the Giants another player. Brandon Crawford strained his right groin as he rounded first on an eighth-inning single that sent Buster Posey to third with two outs. Crawford left the game with no idea when he will return, before Kenley Jansen struck out pinch-hitter Brandon Belt to end the Giants’ final threat. “I’ve never had anything like that before, so I can’t tell you how bad it is,” Crawford said. “It just felt tight. I didn’t feel a pop. That’s good news from what I hear.” Crawford was to miss the next three games on bereavement leave, anyway. Manager Bruce Bochy said he hoped Crawford could get an MRI exam before he leaves for Southern California on Wednesday morning, but Crawford did not think that would be possible. He got hurt during the first of many turns that Madison Bumgarner will miss after his dirt-bike crash. Replacement Ty Blach allowed two runs in five innings. He threw 75 pitches, 50 more than his season- high out of the bullpen. The runs scored in the fourth, after Blach ran his career-opening shutout streak against L.A. to 14 innings. The Dodgers tied the game 1-1 on Yasiel Puig’s no-out single. The winning run scored on an Adrian Gonzalez grounder to Posey at first base. Posey looked Justin Turner back to third and threw to second to force Puig. Turner made a delayed dash home and Crawford fired a throw to Nick Hundley, who was not able to pluck the ball out of the dirt. It would have been a “great double play,” in Bochy’s words. “It short-hopped him,” Crawford said. “It’s not an easy play with a catcher’s glove on, trying to make a tag and catch a ball in the dirt. I’d like to say I should have made a better throw, but I put all I had behind it.” Once Kershaw got the lead, he sniffed his 19th career win against the Giants and dominated through the seventh. Arroyo batted second in place of Belt, who sat with a career 3-for-51 against Kershaw, In his first at-bat, Arroyo attacked a first-pitch fastball and grounded it sharply through the hole. Asked if that was how he envisioned his first hit, Arroyo said, “I didn’t think I’d get it off Kershaw. In the moment, I was ecstatic. Hopefully, there are many more where that came from and I look forward to competing against him again.” Nobody gave Arroyo a Kershaw a scouting report. He watched video and remembered what he saw on “SportsCenter.” He said he went into “battle mode” after getting his first hit and was disappointed to strike out in the third with two runners on. Blach did get a scouting report before he blasted a double to left-center to lead off the third inning, his third career hit in five at-bats against Kershaw. The only pitcher with more hits against the Dodger, Bumgarner, approached Blach in the dugout and told him to look for something up and away because Blach had beaten him on an inside pitch the time before. That is exactly what Blach got. San Francisco Chronicle Giants’ Eduardo Nuñez confesses to not hustling Henry Schulman Madison Bumgarner was not the only Giant to ’fess up this week. Eduardo Nuñez, now a super-utility player with Christian Arroyo’s arrival, said Tuesday that he was wrong for not running out some groundballs, one of which might have cost the Giants a chance to beat the Rockies. Nuñez also said he is still somewhat uncomfortable playing left field, but he expects that feeling to improve and he was happy to step aside for Arroyo. In the April 13 opener of a four-game home series against the Rockies, who were leading 2-0, Nuñez led off the fifth inning with a one-hopper to third baseman Nolan Arenado, who was playing in. Nuñez jogged out of the box as Arenado held the ball momentarily. When Nuñez finally sped up, Arenado made a wide throw that first baseman Mark Reynolds had to dive to catch. An “out” call was sustained by replay, the Giants went down 1-2-3 and lost the game 2-1. Nuñez also did not run out a grounder in Kansas City last week. “No excuses. You have to run hard on every single ball,” Nuñez said. Asked if the coaching staff talked to him about it, he said, “They don’t have to. I know what I’m supposed to do.” Asked about moving from third base to left field, Nuñez said, “Whatever the team needs is the bottom line. The team is better with Arroyo. He’s a great player. ... I’m a little uncomfortable (in left). That’s normal. The more playing time I have, the more confidence I’ll feel. I have to make the plays.” Crawford to be away: Brandon Crawford will begin an absence Wednesday so he can join his wife, Jalynne, for the viewing and funeral for her sister Jennifer in Southern California. The Giants could have Crawford back for Friday’s game against San Diego if they don’t formally place him on leave, which must last three games. But they would not be allowed to replace him on the roster for Wednesday’s and Thursday’s games, and manager Bruce Bochy said the club needs another player because it already is short with Denard Span hurt. Perfection: Domenic Mazza, who was born in Walnut Creek and attended Clayton Valley High in Concord, threw an 85-pitch perfect game for the Giants’ low Class A Augusta, Ga., team in a 9-0 win at Lexington, Ky., on Tuesday. It’s the first perfecto in South Atlantic League history. Mazza, 22, now has something to be known for besides allowing an Opening Day homer to Tim Tebow. Mazza was the Giants’ 22nd-round pick in 2015. San Francisco Chronicle Giants confirm Bumgarner does not need surgery Henry Schulman Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner will not require surgery on his separated left shoulder and will begin rehab work in four to five days, manager Bruce Bochy said Tuesday. “He’s going to start some light work,” Bochy said. “It’s going to be slow at first, nothing major. Things have calmed down a little. There’ll be no surgery or anything. We’re going to rehab this.” Giants head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner said the medical staff continues to get other opinions and expects to divulge a firm diagnosis Wednesday. On Friday, a day after Bumgarner crashed a dirt bike near Denver, the Giants said the left-hander bruised some ribs and incurred a Grade 1 or 2 sprain of the AC joint in his pitching shoulder. A sprained AC joint means the shoulder is separated. A Grade 1 sprain means the ligament is stretched. Grade 2 signifies a tear. Although the Giants have not offered an official prognosis, they expect Bumgarner to miss at least two months. Meanwhile, Matt Cain got good news. Bochy said diagnostic tests on Cain’s right hamstring “came back clean,” and the right-hander is expected to take his next scheduled turn against the Padres on Saturday. Cain left Monday night’s 2-1 victory with hamstring tightness after pitching six shutout innings. He also took a Yasmani Grandal comebacker off his right foot, which remains sore. San Francisco Chronicle Beyond the wins and losses, times of grave concern Bruce Jenkins It’s a different kind of conversation in the Bay Area’s sporting circles these days, laced with shock and concern. Conventional topics beckon — the Warriors’ playoff run, Christian Arroyo’s arrival, the 49ers’ draft options — but it comes back to this: Have we ever had such a strange year in sports? With such disturbing ramifications? The Bay Area’s Mount Rushmore surely includes Steve Kerr, Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey and Bruce Bochy (it’s a jam-packed Rushmore, no doubt), but just now, we ponder not their accomplishments, but the rest of their lives. In terms of performance, we’ve had worse years in the Bay Area. Take 1979, for instance. The A’s finished 54-108 and drew 306,763 fans for the season. The Giants were 71-91, riddled with dissension, and fired manager Joe Altobelli in September. The Warriors were reasonably entertaining, but they finished sixth (and last) in the Pacific Division at 38-44. The Raiders lost three of their first four games, finished fourth in the AFC West and watched the playoffs from home. And the 49ers, on the verge of greatness, went 2-14 in head coach Bill Walsh’s first season with the franchise.