PHILADELPHIA -- Eduardo Núñez took a philosophical approach toward the fielding error he committed in Wednesday's 12th inning that helped propel the Phillies past the Giants, 5-4.
Nunez had no chance to turn an inning-ending double play on Aaron Altherr's slow but unchallenging chopper with runners on first and second and one out. But his fumbling of the ball required novice reliever Jake Peavy to record two outs to escape the inning. It didn't happen that way, as Maikel Franco dropped a soft single to shallow center field.
Nunez also committed a throwing error in Tuesday night's 13-8 loss to the Phillies that generated four unearned runs. But if he felt stressed over committing misplays on back-to-back days, he didn't show it. He pointed out that he and the Giants have plenty of chances to recover from their current malaise.
"There's a long way to go," Nunez said. "There's still two months."
Continuing this theme, Nunez added, "This happened. I turn the page. It's already past. We learn from our errors."
Nunez's education may involve a few dozen fielding tutorials with bench coach Ron Wotus, whose concentrated defensive seminars with Matt Duffy helped the departed Giant undergo a successful transition from shortstop.
Said Giants manager Bruce Bochy, "The more third he plays, the more comfortable he gets. You keep working with them."
Nunez owns a .923 fielding percentage in 151 career appearances at third base. Though modern metrics have eclipsed fielding percentage as a measure of defensive competence, the Major Leagues' top 10 third basemen all possess fielding percentages exceeding .970.
Moreover, Nunez isn't the team's lone alternative at third base. Bochy has repeated that Conor Gillaspie has earned a share of playing time there. Gillaspie continued to reward Bochy's faith by doubling and singling in his first two at-bats Wednesday.