CINCINNATI _ The San Francisco Giants are holding a "Let Pablo Pitch" bobblehead day on Saturday, May 12 at Oracle Park.
On Monday, the Giants didn't just let Pablo Sandoval pitch, they needed the right-hander to give them an inning at the end of an exhausting series against the Cincinnati Reds.
With the Giants trailing 12-4, Sandoval entered to face the Reds in the bottom of the eighth for his second career pitching appearance. Sandoval hit the first batter he faced, Jose Peraza, but induced a flyout and a 6-4-3 double play ground out to end the inning and keep his career ERA at 0.00.
The Giants lost 12-4, but Sandoval did shine in the defeat as he pitched a scoreless inning, topped out at 84.3 miles per hour with his fastball, hit a three-run home run and stole a base for the first time since 2012.
"Whatever I can do to help this team, I'm going to do it, man," Sandoval said. "I'm going to take that punch and sacrifice everything to help the bullpen."
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Sandoval is the second player since 1900 to throw a scoreless outing, hit a home run and steal a base in the same game since Christy Mathewson of the Giants did it in a nine-inning shutout of the Reds on May 23, 1905.
The Giants called on Sandoval after starter Drew Pomeranz lasted just 1 2/3 innings in the shortest outing by a Giants starter this season. Pomeranz missed with too many pitches over the plate, but later in the game, Giants relievers were off the mark outside the strike zone.
In the bottom of the sixth, switch-pitcher Pat Venditte hit three batters while Sam Dyson plunked another as the Giants became the first team to hit four batters in an inning since the Pittsburgh Pirates hit four Boston Braves on August 19, 1893.
When Sandoval hit Peraza in the eighth, the Giants set a new franchise-record with five hit by pitches in the same game.
"It's not easy, pitching is not easy," Sandoval said. "I make it easy because I have fun with it and I don't care about the situation."
