Sports – David Belisle

Sunday, March 10
San Francisco 3 at Seattle 8
Peoria Sports Complex, Peoria
Temp: 78 at 1:10 first pitch

Polanco’s Solo and Slam Slays Giants

Jorge Polanco roughed up San Francisco starter Tommy Romero for five RBIs with a pair of long balls in the first two innings, sending Seattle to an 8-3 win. Polanco’s first-inning blast, a solo shot, cleared the yellow HR line on the black backdrop in center by three feet. His next blast, a grand slam, came an inning later, landing beyond the Cutwater Shirts sign in left after a one-out single by Taylor Trammell and costly walks to Michael Papierski and Dylan Moore. Starter George Kirby picked up the win with two-and-a-third innings of four-hit, two-run ball with 5 strikeouts.

The Mariners’ second baseman also factored in the Mariners seventh run in the fourth. Giant pitcher Carson Seymour was not about to allow a third HR to Polanco when Jorge stepped to the plate with two out. Seymour plunked him but Cal Raleigh made him pay, belting a double to drive in Polanco with his third run of the afternoon. Jorge’s 2-for-2 day has him ripping the ball at a .500 clip (7-for-14) this spring. Raise your hand if Polanco’s fantasy ranking at #236 suddenly became a tempting flyer.

Seattle’s final run was a hard lesson learned for Giant first baseman Tyler Locklear. Jonny Farmelo led off the eighth inning with a high fly foul that sent Locklear angling toward the stands at first. A few feet short of the first row, he reached out and the ball skipped off his mitt. The very next pitch, Farmelo went several barns deep with a homer to right center, prompting a fan behind me to bellow, “That’s on you, 87. Catch the ball!”

The Giants scored two runs in the second when the first three batters, Luis Matos, David Villar and Casey Schmitt, went double-double-single against Kirby. With a wink and a glow, Schmitt’s ninth-inning replacement Jimmy Glowenke went yard in his first spring training at bat for the Giants final run.

Ballpark Buzz … There was a Panda sighting in the sixth inning as 37-year-old Pablo Sandoval, looking very svelte, hit a flare to right for single in the sixth before going down on strikes in the eighth. … Cal Raleigh (6-for-17) went 2-for-3, including a first-inning triple that Giant CF Jung Hoo “Gung Ho” Lee almost ran down in right center, but couldn’t squeeze. … Today’s ballpark shanty of choice was the Deschutes IPA delightfully diluted with Mountain Dew. … Grin and bear it — T-Shirts in the Mariners / Padres Team Store have reached the $45 mark. No supply chain issues there. … Time of game: 2:42. Attendance: 7,572. … It’s great to be back in Cactusville! Stay tuned. I’ll be filing reports Tuesday the 12th (DBacks @ Padres) and Thursday the 14th (Reds @ Rangers).

CACTUS FEVER / Sun-Feb-23

Brantly Brings Home Winner

An 8th-inning single by Rob Brantly snapped a 3-3 tie, bringing home Brice Johnson with the winning run as the Giants topped the Athletics 5-3. Jacob Gonzalez would score an insurance run for the Giants in the top of the 9th when he scored on a Parker Dunshee wild pitch. Dunshee would take the loss (0-1) while Sam Wolff recorded the win (1-0). The Giants improve to 1-1 while the A’s remain winless at 0-3. They lost their other split squad game Sunday 7-3 to the DBacks.

The Giants got on the board first in the 3rd when Abiatal Avelino touched them all with his first cactus dinger, a solo shot laced down the left field line inside the 340-ft foul pole. The next batter Jamie Westbrook walked and came around to score when A’s third baseman Matt Chapman missed second base with a missile throw, trying to nab Westbrook at second after Chapman fielded a Jacob Gonzalez ground ball.

The A’s tied it up in their half of the 3rd when DH Mark Canha hit a sharp, clutch, two-out single up the middle to score Austin Allen and Chapman.

Giants CF Joey Rickard, who went 2-for-3 on the day with a double, singled home Westbrook who’d doubled earlier to go up 3-2 in the top of the 5th. But the A’s answered right back in the bottom half when, after Tony Kemp fouled off 5 pitches, he launched a long bomb to right-center into the bullpen. Unfortunately Nate Orf was caught stealing a couple of pitches before Kemp’s blow, negating an A’s lead.

Bunts, Bits & Bites … Mike Fiers started for the A’s. He of course exposed the Houston Astro sign-stealing scandal. The fans were receptive to him as he retired all six Giants he faced, striking out Wilmer Flores. … The Giants fans didn’t travel that well. San Fran is typically a tough cactus ticket to get your hands on but there were a lot of empty seats down either line. … A’s RF Luis Barrera got a long look today, the only player in the game not to be replaced. He didn’t disappoint, banging out 3 singles in 4 at bats. Kemp added a single with his homer to go 2-for-3 on the day. … Airline flights overhead averaged 5-6 per inning. Drink of choice: Blue Gatorade. My better half and I sat in Section 200 — great seats behind home plate. Nice views of, from left-to-right, McDowell, Red and Usery Mountains. On the menu: one huge jumbo dog, a beyond-the-bun deal at $7.50.