Pablo Sandoval is the Giants' best pitcher in a blowout loss to the Dodgers

Tom Gatto

Pablo Sandoval is the Giants' best pitcher in a blowout loss to the Dodgers image

Pablo Sandoval wears a number generally reserved for pitchers, and darned if he didn't actually look like a pitcher during mopup duty for the Giants on Saturday.

Sandoval worked a perfect ninth inning in Game 1 of the Giants' doubleheader vs. the Dodgers at AT&T Park, needing just 11 pitches to retire all three hitters on ground balls. He relied on an 88 mph sinker with good movement and a low-70s curveball.

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The Giants were down 15-6 at the time and manager Bruce Bochy decided to give his relievers a head start on preparing for the nightcap. Bochy was impressed with his new right-hander, who began the game as San Francisco's third baseman.

The Giants announced Sandoval was the first position player to pitch for the franchise since Greg Litton did it in 1991.

"We lost the game," Sandoval said, per the San Francisco Chronicle, "but we had a little fun out there."

Don't look for Sandoval to pull double duty in Game 2; the Giants should have enough relievers to cover the late innings. Then again, if the game moves into the 14th or 15th inning . . . the Kung Fu Panda might have a few more pitches in him. (UPDATE: Sandoval wasn't needed as the Giants won the nightcap 8-3 to earn a split.)

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.