SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants and Mariners split two games at AT&T Park in early April. A series at Safeco Field proved to be just as even.
A night after the Giants swiped a win in the late innings, the Mariners did so. They played small-ball for the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth. Tony Watson walked Guillermo Heredia and Dee Gordon bunted him to second. Sam Dyson entered and Jean Segura immediately bounced one up the middle to bring Heredia home.
Edwin Diaz closed out the 3-2 win out in the ninth, keeping the Giants from gaining a game on the first-place Dodgers, who lost in Philadelphia earlier in the day. Here's what else you need to know ...
— Brandon Belt had to be helped off the field after injuring his right knee while running to first base in the seventh inning. There was no clear moment where Belt got hurt, but he grimaced after he hit the bag and then doubled over briefly after reaching second base. Belt was replaced by Chase d’Arnaud, who scored the Giants’ first run on a bloop off Denard Span’s glove.
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— The second run also came on a bloop. Hunter Pence dropped one into shallow right field, a couple feet in front of Mitch Haniger, and Brandon Crawford raced home from second. It was a good series for Pence, who hit a long homer Tuesday night.
— The Giants did absolutely nothing in the first five innings, with former Giant Mike Leake throwing 12-or-fewer pitches in each frame and allowing just one hit. Pence and Nick Hundley reached to lead off the sixth, but Steven Duggar grounded out to first, and Alen Hanson and Andrew McCutchen struck out. Those were Leake’s first two strikeouts of the day.
— Derek Holland waited 15 days between starts, and he had another good one. Holland allowed two runs — one earned — in six innings, lowering his ERA to 3.92. He struck out four, passing 1,000 for his career. Holland will get a couple weeks, at the minimum, back in the rotation after Jeff Samardzija’s latest setback, and he certainly looks capable of being a strength.