PHOENIX -- The long-awaited reunion of Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik lasted half a game. Crawford was pulled because his oblique and calf tightened up, and manager Bruce Bochy said the shortstop will likely miss a couple games.
Panik's first start in nearly six weeks included a hit-by-pitch and a collision with Paul Goldschmidt, one of the biggest, strongest dudes in the National League. That play left Panik with a sprained finger on his right hand, but he was fine to keep playing and he doesn't expect to miss any time. After the way August went, you'd need to put a cast on one of those fingers to pull Panik back out of the lineup. He showed his health in the ninth with a solo homer, his eighth of the season. The Tortoise Race is back on!
"No, no," Panik said. "Duffy won that one."
Not so fast, Joe. Duffy is only at 10, and Panik certainly has looked powerful in two games back. He blasted a double off the wall Monday night, and Duffy pointed out that it's been a while. He hasn't homered in 104 at-bats, going back to August 14.
"I hung around for him," Duffy said, smiling.
--- Here's my story on Tim Hudson, who reiterated tonight that this is his last season. The Giants have had a rough month, but Hudson brought a lot of smiles to the dugout tonight. Bochy compared it to his final stretch with Barry Zito, saying "these are special moments." (On that note, way to not call Zito up, A's. God forbid you give your fans a reason to cheer.) Hudson became the oldest Giants pitcher to homer since 41-year-old Steve Carlton went deep in 1986. He gave the Giants seven pitcher-homers (no other team has more than two) for the first time since 1955. Madison Bumgarner has five of them. Here's the rundown of the other two:
Vogelsong (38 years old): 98 mph exit velocity, 391 feet, 26-second HR trot
Hudson (40 years old): 98 mph exit velocity, 386 feet, 24-second HR trot
MLB was apparently suspicious. After the game, Hudson was one of several players chose for a random urine test.
--- This game started with Angel Hernandez losing track of balls and strikes. After a replay review to confirm ball four, Angel Pagan decided to troll the other Angel. Outstanding.
--- So, about that play at the plate ...
"Apparently I'm the cutoff man," Hudson said. "I was in the right spot ... not on purpose."
Ultimately it worked out thanks to a strong throw from Buster Posey and a nice heads-up play by Ehire Adrianza to get back behind the runner.
"That's Play 123B," Bochy said. "We worked on that in spring training."
