Giants elevate Sam Coonrod, demote Andy Suárez after nine-run Saturday

The Giants (21-30) called reliever Sam Coonrod up from Triple-A for his first stint in the majors Sunday, optioning Andy Suárez back to Sacramento after he allowed nine runs (seven earned) over four innings Saturday against the Diamondbacks.

Coonrod said his whole family will be present Sunday including his parents, grandparents, wife and in-laws. He said he was told he was being called up right before a game against the River Cats in Albuquerque:

“[Manager Dave Brundage] called me in the office right before the game and asked me if I could pitch. I said, ‘Of course,’ and he said that I was going to go to the big leagues instead. I was pretty happy about it.”

The right-hander was previously a starter but moved to the bullpen in recent years. Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he’s been really pleased with what the 26-year-old has done in Sacramento this spring and looks forward to adding him to the bullpen:

“He’s been throwing the ball very well. The last four or five outings have been good outings for him. He’s been mainly a one-inning guy recently, but he could go couple for us. We need some help with the bullpen situation.”

In his last five outings over 4-2/3 innings, Coonrod held batters hitless with nine strikeouts and one walk.

Coonrod said he’s started throwing a two-seam fastball this season and he’s enjoyed success combining it with his slurveball (a cross between a slider and a curveball):

“I used to throw [the two-seam fastball] when I was a starter in Richmond but I just kind of went away from it. I have no idea why, but I shouldn’t have. I’ve been happy to have it back.”

Julie Parker is SFBay’s San Francisco Giants beat writer. Follow @SFBay and @InsideThePark3r on Twitter and at SFBay.ca for full coverage of Giants baseball.