SAN FRANCISCO — Brandon Belt didn’t score a run Friday night. He was thrown out in the inning that decided a game with the Dodgers. He spent part of the bottom of the seventh with his arm around Joe Panik on the dugout bench, hamming it up for a camera that had the red light on.
But Belt had a big impact, kickstarting an odd rally that led the Giant to a 6-4 win, and he did so in a fashion that has been in the making for years. Belt has always put bunts down for hits in spring training, hopeful that National League West foes will stop shifting him so aggressively once the season starts.