AT&T PARK — Coming off a nightmare 1-5 road trip, the Giants pitching staff got the last thing they needed Monday night: An injury to one of their starters.
Vogelsong will likely be on the disabled list for two months. His wife Nicole tweeted the following:
Ryan has a dislocated joint in the pinky finger of his pitching hand. It's broken above & below finger. Surgery tomorrow, out 6 weeks.
— Nicole Vogelsong (@nicolevogelsong) May 21, 2013
Manager Bruce Bochy says there are mixed feelings after the win:
Giants manager Bruce Bochy
Video: CSN Bay Area
“It was a good win. We had contributions from everybody. You come off a tough road trip it’s nice to have a game like this. It does rain on your parade a little bit when you lose one of your starters.”
In the clubhouse, Vogelsong’s ring and pinky finger were bandaged and he confirmed he would have surgery on Tuesday.
Giants pitcher Ryan Vogelsong
Video: CSN Bay Area
“I think if it’s going to be one that’s the one you want it to be. It doesn’t do much on the baseball it kind of goes along for the ride for the most part.”
Vogelsong said the knuckle dislocated and his pinky was broken in two places below the knuckle.
Brandon Belt banged out four hits including a home run and scored four times as the Giants shut out the Nationals 8-0.
Adding insult to injury, Vogelsong gets the win. He won’t be able to pick up another one for awhile:
“It stinks especially because it’s been so rough to go out there and feel like my old self again and be throwing like that, it’s tough.”
Both starting pitchers have had terrible starts this season. The ERA’s of Vogelsong and Nationals lefty Zach Duke both resemble respectable initial public offering prices on the stock market.
Belt homered in the 5th inning to the arcade near the 365 ft. mark. Angel Pagan singled in two more runs in the 7th giving the Giants an eight run advantage.
Despite his career night at the plate, Belt is more concerned about his teammate:
Giants first baseman Brandon Belt
Audio: Ryan Leong/SFBay
“It’s not fun anytime a player like that goes down. He’s been working his tail off and the way he was turning stuff around tonight and everybody’s rooting for him and something like this happens, it’s tough. Hopefully we can rally around him a little bit, have people step up and keep on winning.”
Four relievers closed out the win in Vogelsong’s absence.
In the 4th inning, Belt singled to center, then Torres singled to left. Brandon Crawford grounded into a fielder’s choice putting runners on first and third.
Washington made a pitching change for reliever Stammen before Vogelsong executed a successful safety squeeze bringing home Belt for a 3-0 Giants lead.
Pagan doubled to right just inside the foul line to score Crawford. Then Scutaro — who earlier extended his hitting streak to 18 games with a single to left in the third inning — singled to center, plating Pagan.
The Giants sent seven men to the plate, bringing in three runs to give Vogelsong a 5-0 cushion.
Giants mounted a threat in the second inning. Buster Posey struck out looking on a generous call by home plate umpire Jerry Meals. Replay showed the ball was outside the strike zone. Hunter Pence singled to center and comically, the momentum of his swing made his batting helmet come off.
Pence ran to first without head protection. Belt singled to right. With runners on first and second, Andres Torres doubled to left scoring Pence advancing Belt to third. Belt scored on a ground out to second by Crawford.
Vogelsong retired the first eight batters faced, giving up a base hit to left field by opposing starter Duke.
Tuesday night, Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg (2-5,2.83) gets the ball opposed by Giants’ Matt Cain (3-2, 5.43). First pitch at 7:15 p.m.
Notes
The Giants recorded a season high 17 hits, their most since Aug. 25, 2010 when they knocked out 18 vs. Cincinnati. … Scutaro’s 18-game hit streak is the longest active streak in the Majors. During the streak, he’s batting .480 (36-for-75) with 15 runs scored. … It’s the fourth time Belt has had a four-hit game.
