SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants on Tuesday will have a No. 2 hitter who was in the minors when the season started, a cleanup hitter who has played just four games with the team, and a No. 5 hitter who began the season in Toronto. But that's not what stood out when the lineup went up.
Brandon Belt is hitting leadoff for just the second time in his career. Belt is not your prototypical leadoff hitter but he leads the team with a .359 on-base percentage and nobody else is particularly close. Joe Panik is the next highest among regulars at .317.
"Hopefully he gets on base. He's a good on-base guy, but also a power threat," manager Bruce Bochy said of the decision. "It's fair to say offensively we've had our struggles and sometimes you change thing to see if you get out of that rut, especially here at home. We've had a lot of games where we've scored two runs or less."
The Giants got blanked 2-0 in the first game of this series with the Rockies. They rank last in the Majors with 116 runs scored at home and have a .284 team on-base percentage at Oracle Park. Bochy said he has thought about making the change for a few days.
"If it doesn't work you can look at me," he said, laughing.
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Here are tonight's full lineups:
San Francisco Giants
Colorado Rockies (41-37)
1. Charlie Blackmon (L) RF
2. Ian Desmond (R) CF
3. Nolan Arenado (R) 3B
4. David Dahl (L) LF
5. Chris Iannetta (R) C
6. Ryan McMahon (L) 2B
7. Mark Reynolds (R) 1B
8. Garrett Hampson (R) SS
9. Chi Chi Gonzalez (R) P (2019 season debut)
San Francisco Giants (33-44)
1. Brandon Belt (L) 1B
2. Mike Yastrzemski (L) RF
3. Buster Posey (R) C
4. Alex Dickerson (L) LF
5. Kevin Pillar (R) CF
6. Evan Longoria (R) 3B
7. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
8. Donovan Solano (R) 2B
9. Madison Bumgarner (R) P (3-7, 4.28 ERA)