Belt hits 2 of Giants' 4 triples in victory over Padres
Brandon Belt found another gear on the bases, and compared himself to a long-legged jungle animal.
The speedy Giants hit four triples in a game for the first time in 55 years, including a pair by Belt in a 13-8 win over the San Diego Padres on Thursday.
''When I can sniff a triple, I'm going to turn it on,'' Belt said. ''I will do whatever I have to do, use my giraffe strides, to get to third base.''
Brandon Crawford and Matt Duffy also tripled for San Francisco, which had not tripled four times in a game since Sept. 15, 1960, when Willie Mays hit three of them and Eddie Bressoud had one at Philadelphia's Connie Mack Stadium. The Giants had not accomplished the feat at home since Hack Wilson and Ross Youngs had two triples each against the Boston Braves at New York's Polo Grounds on June 28, 1924, according to STATS.
Buster Posey and Gregor Blanco each had three RBIs for the Giants, who built a 7-0 lead by the sixth and won for the fifth time in seven games. San Francisco has won consecutive home games for the first time since May 28-29.
''It was great to see Belt, Crawford and Angel (Pagan) too,'' Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. ''We needed it, too. The good thing is when they scored, we came back and scored too. It's good to get the bats going, and off a tough pitcher, too. We haven't had a game like this for a while.''
Will Middlebrooks tripled for the Padres.
Chris Heston (8-5), who pitched a no-hitter at the New York Mets on June 9, won for the third time in four starts. He gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings, struck out six and walked one.
''I had command of the strike zone,'' Heston said. ''I was able to work both sides of the plate.''
James Shields (7-2) allowed seven runs - his most since June last year - and nine hits in four-plus innings, his shortest outing this season.
''They jumped on me early to get a couple of runs,'' Shields said. ''After that, I felt like I was pitching well. In the fourth, they got some hits when I executed pitches and they just found holes. Pagan was a 3-2 changeup out of the zone and Posey hit one a foot off the plate and down and he managed to poke it into right.''
San Diego closed to 9-8 with a six-run eighth, when Matt Kemp hit a two-run homer and four pinch hitters reached base.
Jeremy Affledt gave up consecutive doubles to pinch-hitters Yangervis Solarte and Clint Barmes ahead of Kemp's drive to center. Pinch-hitter Derek Norris walked and Yonder Alfonso singled against Javier Lopez.
''That felt good and we got back in it,'' Kemp said. ''We still have a lot of fight left in us.''
Sergio Romo got two outs, but consecutive singles by Alexi Amarista and pinch-hitter Brett Wallace drove in runs. Solarte singled in his second at-bat of the inning to cut the deficit to one run before Romo retired Barmes on a popout.
San Francisco scored four runs in the bottom half against Shawn Kelley and Brandon Maurer on Posey's two-run double, Crawford's RBI double and Duffy's RBI single.
TRAINER'S TABLE
Padres: Right-hander Brandon Morrow played catch on Tuesday and is expected to throw a simulated game in the next few days before possibly starting a rehab assignment.
Giants: Right-handers Matt Cain (Thursday) and Jake Peavy (Friday) are to make what are slated to be their final rehab starts. Both are expected to join the Giants on their trip to Miami and Washington, with targeted dates of July 2 and 3 for their returns.
UP NEXT
Padres: Tyson Ross (4-7) starts at home against Arizona on Friday night. Ross threw a complete game against the D-backs in his last start, a four-hitter in which he struck out a season-best nine.
Giants: Tim Hudson (5-6) starts against Colorado on Friday night. Since giving up eight runs in a season-low 3 2/3 innings in Colorado a month ago, Hudson has rebounded with a 3.50 ERA in 30 1-3 innings.
