Giants spring training Day 31: Healthy lineup crushes Pads

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SCOTTSDALE -- As he walked out of the clubhouse Friday night, Jake Peavy made a point of passing a row housing Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, Matt Duffy and Joe Panik. He patted Belt on the chest.

"Whoo!" Peavy yelled. "I'm so glad I'm on y'all's team."

If the lineup looks anything like it did Friday, opposing pitchers might be glad when this team leaves town. With every starting position player on the field for the first time this spring, the Giants beat the Padres 15-6 and scored 10 runs in the first two innings. When manager Bruce Bochy started pulling starters in the top of the fifth the Giants had 12 runs on 13 hits. 

"There's always some electricity the first time everybody gets out there together," Buster Posey said. "It was nice to score some runs like we did. Hopefully it's a sign of good things."

[PAVLOVIC: After long debut, Cain says he's on track for Opening Day]

The 2015 Giants finished fifth in the National League in runs despite playing most of the season without Hunter Pence and most of the second half without Joe Panik. Add Denard Span and a healthy Angel Pagan and this group looks capable of big things. Bochy went with a new look Friday, batting Pagan ninth and pitcher Matt Cain eighth. He said before the game that he'll take a look at other lineups, but he might not have to. 

Span, hitting leadoff, homered to right and drove in four runs. Panik scored twice and Duffy had two hits. Posey hit a long homer the other way and reached base four times. Pence hit a two-run homer. Crawford hit a three-run homer to deep right-center. Belt and Pagan both got a hit and a run on a night when every starter reached base and every starter scored.

The Giants had a deep lineup in 2012 when Pagan and Melky Cabrera joined a mix led by Posey, the MVP. Could this group be better? 

"When you ask me that, I'm not going to say no -- but I really do believe it could," Posey said. "There are just not that many holes. It's an offense that has the ability to put pressure on, and as you saw tonight, we have guys who drive the ball."

HEALTH UPDATES: There’s bad news for Andrew Susac, who already had surgery on that wrist. Is Bochy worried? “Just a little,” he said. “Because it’s in the same area, but we think he’ll be fine in a day or so. He’s got to get back on track here and get strength back in that wrist.” 

CAIN'S DEBUT: Posey was very pleased with what he saw from Cain. Bochy was happy, too. "I thought the stuff was good," he said.

NOTEWORTHY: If you watched on TV, you saw a very sharp ninth inning from Cory Gearrin, who is having a good spring ... Sergio Romo pitched a scoreless inning in his second appearance of the spring ... New Padres beat reporter A.J. Cassavell wrote a good piece the other day about how the Padres are going to try and be better defensively in the outfield. Part of it, he wrote, is doing a better job of positioning Matt Kemp. The right fielder was practically in the corner as he snagged Duffy’s fly to deep right in the second. That’s Duffy’s spot (the Duffy Double?), especially at AT&T Park, and the Padres played it perfectly. 

ICYMI: One more time for the weekend crowd, I did a podcast with George Kontos. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes (I would recommend it; I’ve got a good guest lined up for next week). 

QUOTABLE: “We have a policy, I’ll say that. That’s something we’ll keep internal.” — Bochy, when asked if he has rules regarding kids hanging out in the clubhouse. It’s obviously a big deal right now because of Adam LaRoche, and while Bochy wouldn’t say exactly how the Giants deal with it, it’s clear if you’re in there every day that players try to limit trips. I’d say most of those guys only have their children in the clubhouse a handful of times a season, and it’s usually long after a game is over. 

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