Johnny Cueto made Hunter Pence slow down his homer trot so he wouldn't pass him on the bases
In the Giants' 4-3 win over the Rockies at AT&T Park on Tuesday -- a crucial loss that trimmed Colorado's hold on the second NL Wild Card to just one game over Milwaukee -- that nearly happened again. Starting pitcher
Pence obeyed, since pitchers call the shots in baseball. It looked ... different:
Contrast that scene to a more customary Pence-on-the-basepaths moment like this:
Pence's homer proved to be a pivotal moment in the game, which San Francisco won on a game-winning sacrifice fly by -- who else -- Pence in the ninth inning.
"As far as his trot, I thought he hit the homer," quipped Giants manager Bruce Bochy about Cueto to MLB.com's Chris Haft after the game. "He was enjoying it."
Said Cueto: "Obviously, I was very happy when he hit the home run. I just kept telling him, 'Just go ahead and slow down and enjoy the home run,' because he's always running really fast."
As for Pence, well, he's a team player: "Whoever's in front of you, you have to go at their pace," he told Haft. "You can't pass them."