Giants RF Hunter Pence Injures Hamstring In 5-4 Loss To Braves

Hunter Pence hobbled off Turner Field in Atlanta with a right hamstring strain on Wednesday night before the San Francisco Giants blew a ninth-inning lead and fell to the Braves 5-4 in 11 innings.

Giants RF Hunter Pence Injures Hamstring In 5-4 Loss To Braves

Freddie Freeman homered in the top of the 11th to right-center field off Derek Law (1-1) to give Atlanta the comeback victory.

Pence injured himself about halfway down the first base line while running out a slow grounder to third base in the fourth inning.

“He’s probably heading to the disabled list,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. The right-fielder, however, seemed more hopeful.

“I’m feeling optimistic,” Pence said. “I’m able to walk on it pretty good right now. We don’t know what it is just yet.”

Pence added that he will have an MRI on Thursday morning. He returned to the lineup Saturday after not starting in six consecutive games with a previous right hamstring strain.

Losing Pence for at least two weeks, should he be placed on the 15-day DL, would represent a major blow for the NL West-leading Giants, who already placed outfielder Angel Pagan on the 15-day Dl on May 24 with a left hamstring injury. Pence is tied for the team high with seven homers and leads with 36 RBIs. Jarrett Parker replaced him in right field.

Brandon Belt hit a two-run homer for the Giants. The Braves have now won four of their last six in this 10-game homestand, including two of three against San Francisco. Their 6-22 home record is still the worst in the majors.

“Obviously you don’t want to get off to the start we did this season,” said Freeman, who earned the third game-ending home run of his career on Wednesday. “To finally kind of turn it around a little bit at home, where we were struggling the most, it’s nice.”

Freeman’s homer came after Giants closer Santiago Casilla was unable to hold a 4-3 lead in the ninth.

Braves right-hander Chris Withrow (1-1) pitched a perfect 11th inning to seal the win.

With one out in the ninth, Casilla hit Adonis Garcia with a pitch. Garcia then moved to third when Nick Markakis singled to center field and scored the tying run on Casilla’s wild pitch to Kelly Johnson. 

Giants rookie Albert Suarez allowed three runs and three hits in five-plus innings in his first major-league start. Suarez drove in a run with his first hit, an infield single in the sixth.

The Braves (16-36, fifth in NL East) will next host the Giants (33-22) again on Thursday afternoon for the finale of the four-game series, which the Braves lead 2-1.

Left-hander Madison Baumgartner (6-2, 2.12 ERA) will start for San Francisco, while Atlanta rookie right-hander Aaron Blair (0-3, 6.67) will pitch his first start against the Giants.

PHOTO: SAN FRANCISCO, CA – APRIL 25: Hunter Pence #8 of the San Francisco Giants hits a sacrifice fly scoring Joe Panik #12 against the San Diego Padres in the bottom of the fifth inning at AT&T Park on April 25, 2016 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)