On a rare night on which the Giants had plenty to get excited about and celebrate, San Francisco’s 11-3 blowout victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates was still filled with one of the hardest moments of the season.
With San Francisco ahead 10-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning, and cruising to ace Madison Bumgarner’s first victory of the season, starting third baseman Eduardo Nunez was abruptly pulled from the contest.
Moments after Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy pinch hit for Nunez, he began hugging teammates and coaches and authoring a short and sweet goodbye tour with teammates who grew to admire him over the past year. Nunez had been traded.
After Nunez departed the Giants’ dugout and left for the team’s clubhouse, Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported that San Francisco had dealt the soon-to-be free agent to the Boston Red Sox.
Source: Eduardo Nunez to #RedSox.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 26, 2017
So while San Francisco was preparing to rally around one of the most joyous moments of a dark, frustrating season and revel in Bumgarner’s first win, that occasion became bittersweet as teammates shared their final moments with one of the most lively players in San Francisco’s clubhouse.
Ironically, Nunez nearly exited the game two innings earlier, when he was hit by a pitch on his elbow in the top of the third inning. After a 94-mile per hour Jameson Taillon fastball plunked Nunez, he dropped to the ground and received attention from Bochy and San Francisco’s training staff before ultimately opting to remain in the game.
With the Giants already leading 3-0, Nunez came around to score on a Joe Panik bases-clearing triple that pushed the Giants’ lead to 6-0.
The new Red Sox third baseman had one final opportunity to shine in a Giants’ uniform, and he took full advantage of it, clubbing a two-run triple in the bottom of the fourth inning that gave Boston all the assurance it needed that Nunez was healthy and prepared to step into a key role with a contender.
After taking a pitch on the elbow on Tuesday night and fighting off a hamstring strain that forced him to miss nearly a month, Nunez showcased enough to convince both sides to get a deal done, and by the time the fifth inning ended, he was on the move.
Nunez’s departure helped overshadow what was one of the most dominant wins of the season for a Giants’ ballclub that fell a season-high 25 games below .500 on Monday evening.
Aside from the offensive outburst that included RBIs from six different Giants’ position players, Bumgarner turned in a solid effort as he allowed just a lone earned run over five innings of work. After taking a loss in his first four decisions this season, the four-time All-Star finally picked up his first victory of the season, and he helped his own cause along the way.
In three plate appearances on Tuesday, Bumgarner lined a single to left field, drew a walk and also scored a run.
The 11 runs the Giants scored against the Pirates are the most the team has racked up since a 13-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 30.
With Nunez on the move, Bochy inserted reserve infielder Conor Gillaspie into the game at third base on Tuesday. Gillaspie has rarely played regularly in his career, and it’s possible San Francisco could take a look at a number of different third basemen in the near future including Gillaspie, Jae-gyun Hwang, prospect Ryder Jones, or even Pablo Sandoval, who played his first contest with AAA Sacramento on Tuesday after agreeing to a Minor League deal with San Francisco on Saturday.