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SAN FRANCISCO -- Gregor Blanco supplied the speed. Shawn Kelley Shirts . Hunter Pence, Michael Morse and Brandon Crawford provided the pop. And on a warm, windless afternoon along the bay, AT&T Park played awfully small for the Giants. Pence, Morse and Crawford homered as Blanco accomplished a rare feat on the bases, powering San Francisco past the Atlanta Braves 10-4 on Wednesday. "Its always fun to score a lot of runs," Crawford said. Blanco became the fourth player for San Francisco to steal three bases and score three runs in a game. Bobby Bonds, Kevin Mitchell and Darren Lewis are the others. "He wreaked havoc," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. Blanco, best known for his defence during the 2012 World Series, had struggled most of the season. But with centre fielder Angel Pagan given a day off to rest his sore right knee, Blanco got back to doing what he does best: getting on base and being aggressive. "Thats the kind of player I am. Thats how I can be every single day," said Blanco, who singled and walked twice from the leadoff spot. "I just was out of my game a little bit and I just reminded myself, This is who you are. This is the kind of player you should be." The scoring surge gave Madison Bumgarner (5-3) more than enough room for error. Bumgarner allowed four runs and five hits in five innings, striking out five and walking one. Three relievers kept the Braves scoreless over the final four innings as the Giants continued to dominate the matchup of NL division leaders. San Francisco finished 5-1 against Atlanta this season. "The offence picked me up today big time," Bumgarner said. Julio Teheran (2-3) lasted only 3 1-3 innings for the Braves. He gave up five runs -- four earned -- and seven hits in his second loss to the Giants this season. "I had a hard time with my grip here and in Los Angeles," Teheran said. "I was trying to find a way to get through it. Its not an excuse. Its this type of weather. I had a hard time." The Giants totalled 15 hits and six walks in an all-around display of offence. Pence finished with four hits and three RBIs, Crawford collected three hits and three RBIs, and Morse tied the injured Brandon Belt for the team lead with nine home runs. Freddie Freeman and Chris Johnson hit RBI doubles to give the Braves a 2-0 lead in the first. The Giants responded in the bottom half, scoring three runs, sending nine batters to the plate and forcing Teheran to throw 41 pitches. Blanco extended San Franciscos lead to 4-2 when he walked leading off the second, stole second and third and scored after catcher Evan Gattis sailed his throw to third into left field. The Braves had three extra-base hits in a two-run fourth capped by Andrelton Simmons tying two-out triple just past the glove of a diving Blanco in right-centre. In the fifth, the Braves landed on the wrong side of the transfer rule, which has come under increased scrutiny this season with baseballs expanded replay. Second base umpire Ron Kulpa called out Tyler Pastornicky on a forceout, though Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez argued that Brandon Hicks never closed his glove before dropping the ball as he tried to throw to first for a double play. "If I had to do it over, I could have asked that (the umpires) get together and ask for help. Maybe someone saw it differently," Gonzalez said. Blanco added to his big day in the fifth with an RBI single off Alex Wood, then stole second and scored on Pences two-out single. Morse stretched San Franciscos lead to 8-4, and Crawford added a two-run homer with the 66th "splash hit" in Giants history into McCovey Cove in the eighth. "I dont think there were any cheap homers," Pence said. NOTES: Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval left the game in the sixth with a sore left big toe. He is expected to be in the lineup Thursday, Bochy said. ... Braves CF B.J. Upton was ejected in the sixth after arguing with home plate umpire Lance Barrett following his third strikeout. ... Braves RF Jason Heyward had the day off. ... RHP Matt Cain (0-3, 4.25 ERA) starts for the Giants on Thursday in the opener of a four-game series against the Marlins. ... The Braves are off Thursday before beginning a three-game series at St. Louis on Friday. Carlos Beltran Jersey . -- After enjoying the chance to watch Toronto beat Anaheim, the San Jose Sharks took advantage of a tired Maple Leafs team to move closer to the Ducks in the standings. Mickey Mantle Jersey . The Denver Nuggets played as though they were already relaxing on a tropical beach. Love started practicing early for All-Star festivities, making six of 11 shots from 3-point range and totalling 32 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists to lead the Timberwolves to a 117-90 victory over the Nuggets on Wednesday night.TORONTO – Blue Jays manager John Gibbons is still waiting for his first win under Major League Baseballs new challenge system; the skipper is 0-3 in the regular season, 0-6 including Grapefruit League play. Still, hes a supporter. "I think in the long run it will be good," said Gibbons. Gibbons didnt challenge a play in Wednesday nights win over the Astros, which, upon further review, may have been overturned. Ryan Goins was picked off first base in the sixth inning but it appeared first baseman Marc Krauss glove swept the dirt and tagged Goins high on the shoulder after the runner had touched the bag. The Blue Jays didnt have access to all replay angles; the angles they had were inconclusive. Gibbons has previously expressed regret that the challenge system has sapped the intensity of manager/umpire arguments. Hes worried about the in-game delays and the effect on pace of play. Rather than just complaining, Gibbons proposes a solution. "Keep it the way it is but dont give the teams the benefit of being able to look at it behind the scenes," he said. "I think if, itd be like the old days, you could go out and argue if you think the guy missed it that bad you go out and argue. Of course theyre not going to look at it. This way, then they can say, Okay, you think I missed it that bad, check it out. I think what happens when you have the ability to look at it behind the scenes, you can go out there on every close play there is. "In a lot of ways youre guessing. I think that slows the game down. If youre that serious about a particular call and you think he missed it, roll the dice without the benefit of looking at it." Gibbons incorrectly challenged a call in the fifth inning of Thursday nights game against Houston when the replay system confirmed Melky Cabrera was out on a bang-bang play at first base. WAGNERS LONG DAY Neil Wagner threw two scoreless innings in Torontos 7-3 win over Houston on Wednesday night. It was the culmmination of a long day of travel for Wagner, who was recalled from Triple-A Buffalo. Roger Maris Shirts. Wagner was in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where the Bisons were getting ready to play the LeHigh Valley Ironpigs. He took an hour and a half taxi ride to the Philadelphia airport, flew to Toronto and arrived at the stadium 10 minutes before first pitch. "It was actually just kind of easy," said Wagner. "I just woke up, did my normal thing in the morning and then instead of going through the normal pre-game routine I was just travelling, got here and I was able to play a little catch." Wagner got his arm loose playing catch with left fielder Melky Cabrera at the start of each defensive inning. Casey Janssen and J.A. Happ are both expected to come off the disabled list sooner rather than later, which will create a logjam in the bullpen. Wagner is in his final option year, the reason he got sent down last month, and knows he could again fall victim to the business of the game. "Options are the one thing for free in this game that you dont want," said Wagner. "I cant control having them, I cant give them to other people so I have them and if I get optioned against at some point, so be it. Just keep doing what I do and hopefully at some point, be back." DELABAR RESTS Reliever Steve Delabar was in good humour one day after taking a line drive off the outside of his right leg, below the knee. The ball ricocheted to Edwin Encarnacion at first base, who stepped on the bag for the easy out. "That was the plan," said Delabar. "When I came out of the bullpen they said, if you get hit with a line drive make sure your leg is angled." Delabar is using the RICE treatment method with the bruising: Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation. While Delabar wont pitch on Thursday, he doesnt expect to miss any time. "I could go, yes," said Delabar. "But I think theyre going to be cautious with it." ' ' ' |
