Giants are getting ready to get ready

There was baseball Wednesday night. It didn’t count, but at least it wasn't in a 11-19-1-Cactus-League-I-Can’t-Wait-To-Get-To-The-First-Tee kind of way.  The Giants paid a visit to their AAA affiliate at Sacramento in what was a tune-up for the tune up for the regular season.

Cueto celebrates getting to first and not getting picked off. (Sacramento Bee photo)

Johnny Cueto got some much-needed work and Brandon Belt had two hits (including his sixth spring home run) as the Giants beat the River Cats 8-4. It was more like a just-passing-through visit from a favorite uncle than a game, but that’s what you do when you’ve just extended a player development contract with your feeder team. Uncle Biff drops in for a glass of ice tea but doesn’t stay; hanging out just long enough to avoid insulting the family before meeting the blonde barista from Starbucks at the airport and jetting off to Cabo.

Cueto allowed three runs over six innings, striking out four.  It could have been worse, but he picked off the first two baserunners and three overall, leaving the 10,000+ spectators wondering if Ruben Rivera had been retained as the base-running instructor.  His control was still an issue but the misses were near misses – he did not walk a batter.

He also contributed a broken bat single as part of a 13-hit Giants attack. Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford each hit two-run homers and Ehire Adrianza had two hits with a ribbie.  

Crawford's  third-inning (ehem) blast off of  Sacramento starter Chris Stratton got an assist from center fielder Gorkys Hernandez, who tried to make a leaping catch and tipped the ball over the Raley Field barrier. Once thought a possibility for the 25-man roster, Hernandez hit the wall and the wall hit back.  Apparently the field likes Uncle Biff better.

Crawford's long ball; with a little help from his friend. (Sacramento Bee photo)

BTW, Hernandez was also a pick-off victim. Darren Ford (remember that guy?) and Grant Green were also picked. Okay, Ford officially was caught stealing, but caught leaning isn’t an official stat.

All in all, it was a night designed for fun, starting when Jeffrey Leonard threw out the first pitch, then went one flap down and stuck pins in a Bob Forsch voodoo doll (look it up). He got immunity, right?

The Giants have made similar “make the family happy” stops before, most notably an all-star break diversion to Fresno in 1998. The Giants took that game about as seriously as this one – they bailed after the seventh inning to catch an early flight.

Jeff Samardzija, who along with Cueto is expected to benefit from AT&T Park’s pitcher-friendly dimensions, gets his first look at home sweet home Thursday night as the Giants kick off the Bay Bridge Series with Oakland – who get just this one post without us calling them names. It burns. Oh, it burns.

Notes:

Despite much wailing and gnashing of teeth, it appears Santiago Casilla has a lock on the closer role (scroll down). The Giants have confidence in him, even if the fans don’t, so it looks like closer-in-waiting Hunter Strickland will continue to, uh, wait.

As we’ve previously noted, it’s not nice to revel in the misery of others. Okay, some others. This one is fun. The Kung Fu Panda has lost hisjob. Manager John Farrell announced Pablo Sandoval and his $95 million contract are headed to what one hopes is a well re-enforced bench in favor of $515,000-man Travis Shaw. Sandoval helped the Giants to three titles but set plenty of bridges ablaze on his way out of town last season. Yeah, that’s worth a chuckle.

Attention is rarely paid to equipment unless it’s a cap making a relief pitcher look like he just joined the Super Mario Bros., but Bay Area News Group’s Andrew Baggarly can make anything interesting. If you’re curious about the lumber being swung by the 2016 G-men, check this out.