PHOENIX -- There's a great Getty photo from last night's game that shows two confused outfielders and one who seemed to realize that his night is over. All three are out there again, and manager Bruce Bochy said he gave no thought to mixing up the lineup. There was some concern about Eduardo Nuñez's ankle after last night's game, but he's fine.
As for the top of the lineup ... it's not fine.
Denard Span is hitless in 26 at-bats, the longest active streak in the majors, and he's 1-for-27 on the road trip. Angel Pagan had a big homer last night, but he's 2-for-30 on the road trip. Buster Posey has four hits in 30 at-bats in September. Span, who also made a crucial error on Friday, is the biggest concern right now, and Bochy admitted earlier in the trip that the center fielder is dealing with a sore knee. Span has also had neck and upper back issues this season.
"That's why I gave him the break I did," Bochy said. "He had three days to freshen up. The last time up (Friday) he took a good swing and lined out. Obviously he's our leadoff guy. We want to get him going."
Will Bochy make a change if the slump continues?
"I could do a lot of things there," he said. "We'll see how it goes."
San Francisco Giants
The Giants won't go far without production from the top of the lineup, and today would be a good day to get in gear. As interesting as last night's win was, several Giants noted today that they continued to show a lot of flaws. They did not add on during several rallies, and the Casilla-Lamb thing was a disaster. Even at the end, Gearrin and Javier Lopez made it interesting. The Giants will send Johnny Cueto out there in search of back-to-back road wins. They haven't done that since the start of June.
--- Lost in last night's late craziness: Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey pulled off one of the great relays you'll ever see. Posey's tag was phenomenal, and Crawford made a perfect throw.
"From where he was, he was pretty far out -- that was one of the more impressive throws I've seen," Bochy said. "His back is turned to home plate, he wheels and puts it right on the money. I'll be honest, as the play developed I didn't think we had a chance."
That whole sequence started with a Chris Hermann stolen base. It turns out he broke a couple of bones in his wrist on the play, and his season is over.
--- Gearrin joined select company last night. He's the third pitcher to play the outfield and record a save since the stat became official in 1969. Todd Worrell (1987) and Roger McDowell (1991) also did it.
If you want more on the pitcher-in-the-outfield thing, here's the story I wrote this spring about Sergio Romo and Lopez being told to prepare for outfield play.
--- For the weekend crowd, here's my podcast with Ty Blach. You can download it on iTunes here.
