On an afternoon when the Giants struggled to keep pace offensively with their top division rival the Rockies, it was kind of fitting that Brandon Belt, the best offensive prospect in San Francisco's system, did what he did.
Which is: hit a grand slam.
Those four runs -- more than the Giants scored all day Tuesday against the Rockies as they fell back out of first place -- would have done a world of good for Bruce Bochy's club.
"It is frustrating. It is," Bochy said. "We are a better hitting club than this. You can't live on the edge every game. We've got to take a little pressure off our pitchers."
Which is why it shouldn't be that surprising if Bochy and general manager Brian Sabean make a play and bring Belt back up to the big-league level within the next couple of days.
After all, Belt seems to have gotten a grasp on why he struggled at the MLB level, he's been mashing like crazy since the day he got to Fresno, and there's always a chance Belt could end up being the 2011 version of Buster Posey in terms of sparking the team.
Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury-News writes that there's going to be a "shakeup" of sorts coming for the Giants offensively, and he "wouldn't be surprised" to see Belt show up on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.
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If Belt does get the call (again), he'll face Chad Billingsley, who he hit his first career home run against the first time they squared off.
What might make more sense for the Giants is bringing Belt back via San Francisco when they return to AT&T Park on Friday for the start of a homestand -- there are a pile of different reasons why, but the primary one is that it's just less pressure on a young guy to produce when he's at home.
Regardless, Belt should be back in the bigs soon -- he provides the Giants versatility in terms of playing either outfield and first base, and at this point he's pretty much proved that there's no need for him to sit in Triple-A Fresno and mash the living mess out of Pacific Coast League pitchers too much longer.
