Peavy homers in Giants’ win over Reds

SAN FRANCISCO The San Francisco Giants’ Jake Peavy might not be legally blind, but he can’t see the catcher’s signs unless Buster Posey puts stickers on his fingers. He’s the guy who tried to tackle Travis Ishikawa around second base last October when he thought a pennant-clinching home run was a double off the arcade.

Ah, if only Ishikawa were in the ballpark for Wednesday night’s tense, 5-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. He could have returned the favor.

Peavy saw a blur of white, took a mighty cut while hitting his first home run in nine years and managed to locate all four bases on his way home. He might have felt even better about the way he restored a manager’s faith while pitching out of a sixth-inning jam to continue his September resurgence.

Although they didn’t gain ground in either playoff race, the Giants won for the fifth time in six games and are 18-6 at home since the All-Star break.

The Giants have no need for a designated hitter. In the past 13 games, they have received home runs from four pitchers: Ryan Vogelsong, Tim Hudson, Mike Leake and now Peavy. And, of course, Madison Bumgarner has hit five home runs this season.

They tied the major league record and are the 16th team since 1901 to receive home runs from five pitchers in a season. The 2002 Dodgers (Andy Ashby, Kevin Brown, Omar Daal, Hideo Nomo and Odalis Perez) were the last team to accomplish it.

The Giants have accounted for nine of the 24 home runs hit by pitchers this season; it’s the most a Giants team has received since 1934.

“Chris Heston hated to see that home run more than anybody,” Peavy said. “The pressure’s on him now. He probably hits the most home runs of the pitchers in batting practice.”

However the Giants renovate their rotation over the winter, they’ll rely on Peavy to be a signature piece again in 2016. He isn’t built to go through a lineup a third time anymore. But he continues to be highly effective before his pitch count begins to climb.

Peavy held the Reds scoreless into the sixth inning and had the stuff to strand runners in scoring position. He struck out two in the second inning after Brandon Phillips had taken third on his errant pickoff throw. He struck out Jay Bruce after Jason Bourgeois’ two-out triple in the third.

Most impressively, he used his powers of persuasion to turn Bruce Bochy back to the dugout without taking the baseball in the sixth. The Reds had scored on consecutive doubles by Joey Votto and Phillips, followed by a walk to Todd Frazier. The Reds pulled off a double steal. But Peavy was able to finish the inning, and pumped his fist a half-dozen times before Ramon Cabrera’s pop-up settled into shortstop Ehire Adrianza’s glove.

“It was big for everybody. It wasn’t big for me,” Peavy said. “Never am I on the mound thinking about anything personal. ... But it was a big moment for the team.”

Bochy paid for trusting Peavy to go any further, though, as the right-hander gave up back-to-back doubles to start the seventh. Cory Gearrin and Javier Lopez teamed up to strand an inherited runner and preserve a 4-2 lead.

“We talked before he went out (for the seventh), and he said he felt great,” Bochy said. “Two doubles later, I found out he lied to me. But really, he had good stuff. He just hung a slider there.”

Getting Peavy to go deep in games? That wasn’t an issue in the fourth, when he took a hefty cut at a pitch from Colin Balester. The ball sailed into the left field bleachers for Peavy’s third career home run and his first since 2006, when he was with the San Diego Padres.

Peavy took grief from teammates, though, because he forgot he was due up second in the fourth inning and didn’t have time to pull on his batting gloves as he bolted to the on-deck circle.

“I pitched in the American League too long,” Peavy said.

The Giants provided a quick lead in the first inning when Buster Posey singled while collecting his 90th RBI of the season. Marlon Byrd and Adrianza were the Giants’ other hitting stars. Byrd and Adrianza doubled as the Giants scored a run in the second inning. Byrd hit an RBI triple in the third, and Adrianza contributed his own RBI triple in the seventh.

The Giants officially conceded what already had become obvious: All-Star second baseman Joe Panik won’t play again this season. The club transferred Panik to the 60-day disabled list, and also recalled Cuban outfielder Daniel Carbonell and designated him for assignment.

The team needed to create space on the 40-man roster to purchase the contracts of outfielder Mac Williamson and catcher Trevor Brown, who finished their seasons at Triple-A Sacramento on Sept. 7.

“With the way we’re banged up, we need more coverage,” said Bochy, who used starting pitchers Bumgarner and Leake as pinch hitters in Tuesday’s 10-inning loss.

Panik’s first full season was a smashing success before lower back inflammation sent him to the disabled list on Aug. 1. He hit two doubles and a homer in a brief return before the back flared up again last week.

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