SAN FRANCISCO — For the fifth time this week, the Giants failed to do much offensively. With Dereck Rodriguez on the mound, it didn’t matter.
Rodriguez kept the Cardinals down into the seventh, and while he didn’t figure into the decision, he gave the lineup a chance to break through late. Andrew McCutchen’s hard single to left brought Hunter Pence racing home in the seventh for the go-ahead run and the Giants walked away with a 3-2 win.
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On a night when the Giants snapped an ugly four-game losing streak, here's what you need to know...
--- Joe Panik eased into third base on Gorkys Hernandez’s double in the bottom of the fourth and was immediately taken out of the game by the training staff. He has a left groin strain. With just eight games until the All-Star break, this would be an easy time to place him on the DL to heal.
--- Rodriguez appears to be the real deal. He gave up just two earned in 6 2/3 innings, lowering his ERA to 3.09. The rookie got 13 outs on the ground.
--- Given the way he’s swinging the bat, Alen Hanson is certainly worthy of a lineup spot every time the Giants face a righty. But it’s probably time to end the outfield experiment. Hanson looked shaky all night in the series opener and he overran a bloop in the second inning Friday, allowing a two-out run to score all the way from first. It’s baffling that the Giants won’t just run Austin Slater out there everyday and let Hanson get starts at second and third. They might be forced to now, because of the Panik injury.
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--- Pablo Sandoval gave the Giants the lead in the sixth with a solo shot to left. The homer was Sandoval’s seventh of the season. The Giants got just nine homers from their third basemen last season, but already have gotten 17 from Sandoval and Evan Longoria.
--- It was 108 degrees for the first pitch of the Dodgers-Angels game in Anaheim. It was 73 degrees for first pitch at AT&T Park. NorCal is better.