San Francisco Giants third baseman Marco Scutaro can't corral a hot smash off the bat of New York Mets' David Wright in the fifth inning of a Major League Baseball game, Wednesday Aug. 1, 2012, at AT&T Park in San Francisco. The ball skipped past Scutaro and Wright ended up with a single. (D. Ross Cameron/Staff)
SAN FRANCISCO -- In the 28 days before he was traded to the Giants, Hunter Pence hit just .194 with one home run. He's knows that won't do in his new surroundings at AT&T Park.
"Honestly, all of July, I was really off," Pence said. "I had a little thing going wrong. The last two days, I was starting to get on to something that felt a lot better. So hopefully, you guys caught me on the 'up.' "
It wasn't evident in his Giants debut, however. Pence went 0 for 4 Wednesday night as the Giants dropped a 2-1 decision to the New York Mets.
The Giants are counting on big things from Pence after dealing Nate Schierholtz -- who went 2 for 5 with a homer in his Philadelphia debut -- and two minor leaguers to the Phillies for the 29-year-old right-handed slugger, who entered with a .329 career batting average at AT&T with five home runs in just 20 games.
Pence had a chance to make an immediate impact when he came to the plate with two on and two out in the first, but he fouled out to first base. It didn't get any better than that. He also struck out twice and grounded out to shortstop.
The Giants as a whole weren't much better. They managed just three hits against Mets left-handed starter Jonathan Niese (8-5) and three relievers, the only run scoring on Buster Posey's 14th home run, a solo shot with two out in the sixth.
Meanwhile, things started badly for starter Matt Cain when he surrendered a homer to Mets leadoff hitter Ruben
Tejada on the second pitch of the game. Tejada had gone two seasons and 629 at-bats without hitting a home run.The Mets added another run in the second. Josh Thole hit a one-out single to center and advanced to second when Niese squared to bunt and then pulled back to slap a single past charging third baseman Marco Scutaro. Tejada's sharp single to left loaded the bases, and Thole then scored on a fielder's choice grounder by Jordany Valdespin.
Cain didn't give up any more runs after that, but he struggled just to get through five innings. He threw 97 pitches before being lifted for a pinch-hitter, surrendering seven hits and walking three. He struck out five.
Cain (10-4) continued a bit of a slide since he pitched his perfect game against the Houston Astros on June 13. He has allowed 52 hits (including nine home runs) and 23 earned runs in 512/3 innings in his eight starts since, and is 2-2 with a 4.01 ERA.
Center fielder Gregor Blanco saved Cain's final line from being worse than it was, making a spectacular diving catch on a Valdespin liner in the left-center gap to end the fourth inning. The play was reminiscent of the grab Blanco made during Cain's perfect game.
Niese, meanwhile, allowed just one hit over the first five innings, a leadoff single to Scutaro in the second, before Posey got the Giants on the board in the sixth. Joaquin Arias had the other hit against Niese, a two-out single in the seventh. Niese walked two and struck out five.
The Giants escaped bases-loaded jams in the eighth and ninth innings to keep the game close but went 0 for 6 against Mets relievers Tim Byrdak, Jon Rauch and Bobby Parnell. Parnell picked up his fourth save with a perfect final inning.
Last in the major leagues in home runs, the Giants need Pence, who was hitting .271 with 17 home runs and 59 RBIs before the trade, to supply much-needed power to their recently faltering offensive attack.
One of the reasons Pence might have been available, though, is that he was hitting just .238 with runners in scoring position with the Phillies this year, a significant dip from his .291 career mark.
"First of all, it's more than likely going to get better," Pence said. "I don't necessarily think my swing has been in the greatest rhythm. You go through a season, there's ups and downs. That's just the way it goes. We'll have to find out over the next two months what happens. But I'm working on it, and it does have to get better."
Pence was so excited about getting to San Francisco, he paid for his own plane ticket Tuesday. He sent a video greeting to fans of himself via Twitter drinking an oversized cup of coffee, and he was looking forward to getting a warmer reception from fans than he did coming into the city as a visitor.
"There's good hecklers here in San Fran," he said. "I've had a couple interesting ones here. There was some lady who used to call me Bird Legs all the time. She'd go, `Hey, BIRRRRD Legs, you can't hit the ball out of the infield, loser. Don't you know you can't show your shortcomings? Pull your pants down!' "
Pence brings some quirkiness to the Giants, to be sure. He has an exaggerated batting stance and a strange warm-up routine in the on-deck circle. He has been known to crash into walls and third-base coaches. A collision with Phillies third base coach Juan Samuel while he was making a turn to score a run is a YouTube classic.
"I have to be honest, every now and then, I do things you don't see very often," he said.
He was more serious about his unorthodox hitting style.
"I try to do the best with what I've got," he said. "That's just the position I get in. You look at many hitters and a lot of them do it in different ways. You just want to get in good positions. You want to be short to the ball and long through it.
"I'm always striving to improve," he added. "I'd like to have more homers, more RBIs, more runs scored, more average. The only thing better than hits is more hits."
Even though he is under club control through next season, his final arbitration year, Pence said he would entertain an extension if the Giants were to offer one.
"Absolutely, that would be wonderful," he said. "It'd be nice to have a home, settle in."
- The Giants placed Aubrey Huff on 15-day disabled list (right knee) to make room for Pence. They are expected to make another Thursday when they activate catcher Hector Sanchez, who has been on the D.L. since July 18 with a right knee strain.
Sanchez likely will start behind the plate Thursday with Barry Zito scheduled to pitch.
Manager Bruce Bochy said the experiment of trying Sanchez at first base, however, has been shelved for the time being.
- Bochy said the situation in the bullpen might be more fluid as he attempts to give struggling closer Santiago Casilla some time to regather himself.
"Every year, you're going to have relievers who probably need a little break and you try to give it to them as long as you can," he said.
N.L. west standings
Giants 56 48 .538 --
L.A. Dodgers 56 50 .528 1
Arizona 54 51 .514 21/2
Note: The Dodgers lost to the Diamondbacks 4-1 Wednesday.
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