SAN FRANCISCO — The ovation began to build for Hunter Pence while his cleats scraped the infield dirt. By the time he reached his position on the worn spot in the right field grass, the applause enveloped him.
Pence waved and doffed his cap, and then he thrilled the crowd when he doubled off the top of the wall in his first big league at-bat in two months.The Giants stranded him there.It was a reminder: this is a team that needs more than a single spark from a single player. They received enough contributions from enough sources to take a badly needed 5-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Saturday.