SAN FRANCISCO It's finally Bengie Molina's turn to rest.
The Giants' Molina is the only catcher in the majors who had been behind the plate for every pitch of his team's games this season. That'll change today when Molina gets his first day off. Actually, it'll be two, because the Giants are off Thursday before opening a three-game series at Arizona. "Bengie's been carrying a pretty heavy load,'' manager Bruce Bochy said. The only catcher in the National League who has caught more innings than Molina, 34, is St. Louis' Yadier Molina. But Bengie's 26-year-old brother had only started 12 of the Cardinals' first 13 games.
Pablo Sandoval, who started each of the Giants' first 13 games at third base, will fill in for Molina. More reinforcements are on the way. Catcher Steve Holm was called up from Triple-A Fresno after the game, replacing reliever Alex Hinshaw, who was optioned to the Grizzlies.
Bochy said club had considered calling up Holm for about a week, but he was recently sidelined after being hit with a pitch.
"I'm getting concerned about wearing Bengie down, even though it's early,'' Bochy said. "It just gives us some more options, whether to rest Bengie or to make a move (during a game).''
Sandoval was a catcher and made 11 appearances (nine starts) behind the plate with the Giants last season. He didn't even put on the gear until late in spring training and only caught two Cactus League games, for a total of eight innings. One of those appearances was to catch Barry Zito, the Giants' starter today.
"I'm excited,'' Sandoval said. "I'm looking forward to it.''
Bochy said first baseman Travis Ishikawa also will get a break, replaced by Rich Aurilia. Juan Uribe will play third base with Sandoval behind the plate.
Rotation tweaks?
Bochy said the team might use Thursday's off day to adjust the rotation, although nothing will be finalized until after today's game. Bochy added that any potential moves are not health related.
Altering the sequence of starters is somewhat surprising. In the current order, the Giants would use Jonathan Sanchez, Tim Lincecum and Randy Johnson against Arizona. The trio didn't allow a run against the Diamondbacks last week.
No reunion
Former Giant Kevin Correia said he was a little disappointed he won't face his former team during this series. Correia's start at Philadelphia on Monday was rained out, but Jake Peavy, the Padres' starter Tuesday, had already flown to San Francisco. "He was here, ready to go, so it wasn't going to happen," said Correia, who is 0-1 with a 4.09 ERA in two starts with the Padres.
Short hop
The Giants said they sold 11,000 tickets for Filipino Heritage Night. One of the attractions was to get a glimpse of Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, the boxing world champion who threw out the first pitch to enthusiastic chants of "Manny! Manny!"
Laurence Miedema, MediaNews staff
