Gregor Blanco did the improbable in the sixth inning of a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies, hitting a home run deep into the right-field seats at AT&T Park. It was just the third major league homer for Blanco and first in 172 at-bats.
He was back to his familiar tricks in the eighth inning while scoring what proved to be the winning run. Blanco led off the bottom of the eighth with an infield single and alertly took third when Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario made a poor throw on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Joaquin Arias.
Blanco scored the go-ahead run two batters later on Buster Posey’s single to center field. Brett Pill’s single to left brought Arias home.
The two-run cushion would be needed.
Arias’ error at third base allowed a run to score in the top of the ninth, but with the bases loaded, Arias made a slick play on a slow roller to end the game.
The save was Santiago Casilla’s eighth in nine chances since Brian Wilson had season-ending elbow surgery. The Giants improved to 15-0 when leading after the eighth inning.
Rockies rookie Christian Friedrich was cruising along until Blanco led off the bottom of the sixth with his solo blast.
The homer injected some life into a Giants offense that struck out seven times in the first three innings and managed to get just two balls out of the infield in the first five innings.
Posey hit a two-out single later in the sixth and went to third on Angel
Pagan’s double, but Pill struck out to end the threat. The Giants also left two runners on in the fourth and fifth innings, but Ryan Vogelsong was able to keep them in the game.
Vogelsong wasn’t particularly sharp, walking five and going to a full count to seven of the first 14 Rockies hitters. But he was resilient, striking out Todd Helton to strand two runners in the first and getting Michael Cuddyer to fly out to deep center to leave the bases loaded in the third.
Rosario jumped on one of the few mistakes inside the strike zone, hitting a deep homer to left field in the fourth. Vogelsong retired the next 12 hitters he faced to reach the seven-inning mark for the third consecutive start. He has allowed just one run in each of those starts and lowered his ERA to 2.66.
Sanchez switched from second base to third base this month in an effort to kick-start his rehab from shoulder surgery, but his lower back flared up over the weekend. Sanchez, who has been at the Giants’ facility in Arizona, will have an MRI exam to determine the extent of the latest injury.
Manager Bruce Bochy saw Sanchez play Friday before the opener of a three-game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He said the back was bothering Sanchez on Friday and got worse over the weekend.
“He’s had another minor setback,” Bochy said Monday. “He’s at the point where he can’t do anything because of his back.”
Sanchez’s back briefly flared up during spring training, and he has dealt with continued shoulder problems throughout the season. Sanchez played three games for the Single-A San Jose Giants in late April but was sent back to extended spring training after feeling shoulder pain.
That was when he asked to switch positions, in part because the throws from third base are less complicated than the ones from second base.
Sanchez had surgery last August and has not played defense in a game since June 10, when he dislocated his right shoulder while making a diving stop on a ground ball.
TUESDAY’S GAME
Colorado (Jeremy Guthrie 2-1) at Giants (Tim Lincecum 2-3), 7:15 p.m. CSNBA
There is the quick update of the day.
