Giants Notes: Looking to Clinch, ‘all Hands on Deck' Vs Dodgers

SAN FRANCISCO - There were two TVs in the clubhouse this morning dedicated to college football. The rest were showing Mets-Phillies or Cardinals-Pirates. The Giants are keeping a close eye on the competitors, but Bruce Bochy said it won't matter once he takes his familiar spot in the dugout. 

"It's all hands on deck," he said. "We're going to do all we can to win this thing."

That means Jeff Samardzija is available. Instead of a bullpen session, Samardzija played catch Saturday morning. He'll be ready if Ty Blach falters, but Bochy doesn't anticipate trouble. Blach faced the Dodgers in Los Angeles last month (yes, it is officially October) and needed just 26 pitches to get through three perfect innings. 

"That outing and the one in Colorado really showed us he's ready to make the next step," Bochy said. "That's why he got that start in San Diego."

That one didn't go so well, but the Giants trust Blach against a Dodgers team that doesn't really hit left-handed pitching. He'll go up against Clayton Kershaw, who is facing a bit of an unusual lineup. Brandon Belt is 3-for-48 off Kershaw with 26 strikeouts, but he remains in the No. 2 spot. "I don't want to change that," Bochy said. "He's been swinging the bat well so I just left him in his slot." Belt has a tiny bit of swelling on his right hand after getting drilled last night, but he's able to play. Joe Panik is in there because he has four hits off Kershaw and Kelby Tomlinson is 0-for-14. Gordon Beckham is 2-for-5. 

--- Eduardo Nuñez said he's going to run on a treadmill today to test his strained hamstring. He won't play this weekend, and he remains a bit of a long shot for the wild card game. Nuñez said the training staff is focused on the whole month of October, not the next few days. The Giants are trying to be smart about this one. You can't rush a speed guy with a hamstring injury. 

If Nuñez isn't able to go in a possible wild card game, Conor Gillaspie would be the guy, likely against Noah Syndergaard. Gillaspie had a huge pinch-hit double last night and he has six hits in his last 11 at-bats, with five RBI. 

"Without question getting at-bats is helping him get his timing," Bochy said. "For these guys on the bench, it's critical that occasionally they get a start. If they get two or three starts, it's better. That's a huge at-bat he gave us last night but that at-bat was probably helped by all the at-bats earlier."

--- From last night, Brandon Crawford and Javier Lopez split the Willie Mac Award. Madison Bumgarner picked up his 100th career win. And Angel Pagan picked a man up and slammed him to the ground.

--- If you missed it, here's my latest podcast: Jon Miller telling stories about Vin Scully. You can download it on iTunes here. If you like the podcasts, please consider subscribing or leaving a rating! 

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