EXTRAS: Belt stays hot, Sandoval impresses Bochy, etc.

BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO --Brandon Belts second home run in his last two games wasovershadowed Wednesday by Matt Cains perfect game. He hit his third long ballin as many games in Thursdays loss, this one landing in McCovey Cove for the61st Splash Hit by the home team in AT&T Park history.Belt got a 2-2 breaking ball from Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez, and depositedit in the drink to drive in the Giants first two runs of the game.Down two strikes, I just wanted to make sure I put the ballin play, Belt said. He gave me a curveball, it actually wasnt a bad pitch,probably at the knees. Got out in front a little bit on my front foot and putgood wood on it.With Aubrey Huff facing a possible stint on the disabledlist, and all of Belts home runs coming against left-handed pitchers, theyoung first baseman is due for a lot more playing time, thanks to a managerthat notices a more confident attitude.Hes starting to find his swing, against lefties too,Giants manger Bruce Bochy said. Hes getting more and more comfortable, made acouple adjustments up there. It seems like hes freer with his swing and morecomfortable. Thats a good sign for us and a good sign for him. Hes going upthere with more confidence and its nice to have that bat in the lineup.Belts bat was in and out of the lineup as he struggled to start the season,appearing in 48 games this season before hitting his first home run Tuesday.Feels good to be comfortable at the plate, Belt said. Ivebeen searching for my swing pretty much all season. Now Im going to try andkeep it going.--Pablo Sandoval was the only Giant with a multi-hit game Thursday, but whatimpressed his manager most was what he did on the defensive end.Bochy went public last week with his concerns over Sandovals ability to stickat third base long term due to poor conditioning. Sandoval made nearly identical put outs on slow rollers, one on Wandy Rodriguezin the third inning and another on Matt Downs an inning later. On both plays,Sandoval had to charge the ball, transfer it from his glove hand to throwinghand on the run, and throw across his body to first base. Barry Zito also benefitted from Sandovals quick reactions, when Jed Lowrieripped a line drive down the third-base line with runners on first and second.Sandoval snagged the hot shot, got the force out at third, then completed thedouble play, despite a slightly off-line throw to Ryan Theriot at second base.Bruce Bochy said he knew it was only a matter of time before Sandovals defenseimproved. Hes going to get better with more playing time, Bochysaid. His defense takes a little time too. Its a timing thing to see the balloff the bat. But he did make some nice plays coming in on slow rollers, madesome nice throws. Its only going to get better. Its good to see Pablo playinggood defense out there.--A lesson in perfect game etiquette: Dont leave the ballpark early.A scout seated in the press box shared a story of a Canadian couple that startedto head for the exits with Cain three outs away from history. At least 100,000people will claim to have witnessed perfection, but this couple was unaware ofwhat was unfolding in front of their eyes. When interrogated about their earlydeparture, the couple said they wanted to beat traffic. After being informed of whatthey could potentially miss, they returned to their seats to watch the finalthree outs.--Alex Pavlovic of the San Jose Mercury news was told Aubrey Huff is probablyheaded for the disabled list and that outfielder Justin Christian, not firstbaseman Brett Pill, is the likelycandidate to take the roster spot.Christian is not in the lineup for Triple-A Fresno on Thursday night and ishitting .364 with seven home runs for the Grizzlies this season.
A Grizzlies transaction email states that Christian has been removed from the roster, a sign that he could potentially take Huff's roster spot if he hits the DL.
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The Giants turned in another errorless game Thursday, but still lost. The teamis 22-11 when committing no errors and 14-17 in games with defensive blunders.