Sandoval homered and doubled in his second three-hit game this season, scoring the go-ahead run on Kevin Pillar’s two-out single in the eighth inning to lift the San Francisco Giants over the Cincinnati Reds 6-5 on Sunday.

Sandoval hit a two-run, opposite-field homer to left in the first off Tyler Mahle that tied the score 2-2, his sixth home run this season. He singled in the sixth.

Sandoval was in the lineup at first base to give Brandon Belt, who is experiencing right knee inflammation, some extra rest.

Manager Bruce Bochy said Sandoval affords him that luxury.

”He’s one of those guys who can sit and come up there and give you a good at-bat, whether it’s pinch hit or he gets his starts,” Bochy said. ”The guy just has a knack for coming through when you need him.”

San Francisco trailed 5-4 when Evan Longoria singled off David Hernandez (0-2) leading off the eighth. Sandoval doubled, Mac Williamson hit a run-scoring grounder and Pillar singled in front of center fielder Nick Senzel for his team-leading 22nd RBI. Sandoval slid home as the rookie’s throw from about 260 feet was up the third-base line.

Sandoval also had a three-hit game at Toronto on April 23. He was released from a $95 million, five-year contract with Boston two years ago, and the Giants are paying him the $555,000 major league minimum.

Belt made a big contribution, too, coming in as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and hitting a tying, two-run homer – his sixth – on a hanging curveball from Mahle.

Reds manager David Bell said acknowledged he had Zach Duke available to face Belt, but he wanted to give Mahle a chance to get through the inning.

”We’ve talked about him getting stronger as the game goes on and we liked the way he was throwing,” Bell said. ”He’ll continue to get opportunities like that.”

Mahle allowed four runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He is 0-5 in eight starts this season.

The Giants overcame three deficits on Sunday.

Pillar said the team’s 12-11 comeback win against the Reds on May 3, in which the Giants rallied from an eight-run deficit, was a turning point.

”I think from that point on we’ve swung the bats real well, top to bottom,” Pillar said. ”It’s just needed a timely hit once in a while, and today we got a couple of those.”

Tony Watson (2-0) won despite forcing in the go-ahead run with a bases-loaded walk to Tucker Barnhart in the eighth. Will Smith struck out two in a perfect ninth for his 10th save in as many attempts, and the Giants avoided a three-game sweep.

Madison Bumgarner allowed four runs – two earned – and eight hits in six innings. He lowered his ERA from 3.99 to 3.88.

Senzel hit an RBI single in the second and Yasiel Puig homered for the second straight day, a sixth-inning drive that gave him seven this season. Jose Iglesias had a two-run single in the first.

MORNING MOHAWK

Puig arrived in the clubhouse Sunday morning sporting a platinum blonde Mohawk. ”Between last night and this morning?” Bell said when asked if he’d seen Puig’s new hairdo. ”Wow, I haven’t seen that yet.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: OF Jesse Winker, who missed two games last week with left quadriceps tightness, pinch hit in the eighth and grounded into a forceout.

UP NEXT

Reds: Sonny Gray (0-4, 4.15 ERA) is to pitch Tuesday’s series opener against the Chicago Cubs. The Reds are 2-6 in his eight starts.

Giants: Rookie RHP Tyler Beede (0-1, 18.69) starts Tuesday against Toronto, seeking his first big league win. He allowed seven earned runs in 2 1/3 innings in his only start this season.

The post Sandoval’s homer, 3 hits help Giants beat Reds 6-5 appeared first on IdealCapper.

Boston Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Pablo Sandoval has trimmed down after missing nearly the entire 2016 season.

The third baseman appeared to be well over his listed 255 pounds when he reported for spring training in February, and he was limited to three games and seven plate appearances before season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

”He did lose a lot of weight. I won’t give you the exact weight. I just don’t believe in doing that,” Dombrowski said Monday as the annual general managers meetings started.

Sandoval helped San Francisco win World Series titles in 2010, `12 and `14 but hit .245 with 10 homers and 47 RBIs in his first season with the Red Sox after signing a $95 million, five-year contract in November 2014.

Boston said during spring training it was not concerned about Sandoval’s weight, and principal owner John Henry said Sandoval’s body-fat ratio was 17 percent, down from 21 percent last year.

Sandoval spent much of the season at Boston’s spring training complex in Fort Myers, Florida.

”He was down there working on rehab, then strengthening, took groundballs, throwing, swinging the bat. He’s ready to play in games right now,” Dombrowski said. ”I’m going to give him credit: He worked on dietary aspects of his life. … He’s really taken tremendous strides.”

Boston has not decided whether Sandoval will be allowed to play in games this winter.

”He’s actually asked if he could play winter ball. We’re not ready to do that yet with him,” Dombrowski said. ”We still think there’s a lot of benefit by him continuing to be in Fort Myers and be down there working with our people.”

Sandoval is a candidate to play third base next season, along with Brock Holt, Travis Shaw and Yoan Moncada. Sandoval also could get time at designated hitter following the retirement of slugger David Ortiz. Sandoval lost his third base job to Shaw in spring training this year.

After winning the AL East, Boston was swept in the Division Series by Cleveland, which won the AL pennant and lost the World Series to the Chicago Cubs in seven games.

Dombrowski, who joined the Red Sox in August 2015 after he was fired by Detroit, said he spoke to executives from the Atlanta Braves, who won 14 straight division titles from 1991-2005 but just one World Series, and John Hart, whose moves helped Cleveland to six first-place finishes in seven years from 1995-2001 without any championships.

”I’ve actually been involved in winning the division five of the last six years. We haven’t won a World Series,” Dombrowski said. ”And I can’t seem to see that there’s a common thread when I start talking. If somebody has one, I’m kind of open to hear about it. You start talking about who plays well at a particular time period. It’s just one of those things. You look right off the bat, we had a couple guys that didn’t pitch as well as they’re capable of pitching, starting-wise, but we also didn’t swing the bats like we were capable of swinging.”

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Sandoval came out in the top of the sixth inning and was replaced by Deven Marrero. He missed three games over the weekend, also with back tightness.

The Red Sox lead the AL East-leading Blue Jays 10-1.

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