Posey tallies rare slam-steal combo
LOS ANGELES -- Buster Posey took a few evaluative seconds before summarizing how he felt about becoming the first Giants catcher in 112 years to hit a grand slam and steal a base in the same game.
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"It's cool," Posey said with a note of appreciation in his voice after the Giants' 9-5 win over the Dodgers on Friday night. Poking fun at himself, he added, "I'd like to know the odds of that, considering I've stolen six or seven bases in my career. I'd say the odds are really high."
The Giants rode the momentum of Posey's third-inning slam to improve to 8-2 against their biggest rival and trim the Dodgers' National League West lead to 1 1/2 games.
Posey invoked the memory of Hall of Famer Roger Bresnahan, who recorded a slam and a steal on April 28, 1903, against the Phillies, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Posey performed those deeds in the first three innings on Friday, then added a seventh-inning single to accelerate a four-run Giants rally that settled the outcome.
Posey was running on his own when he took off for second base in the second inning. He easily beat Los Angeles catcher Yasmani Grandal's throw with a smooth slide to record his seventh career theft in 12 attempts. It also was Posey's first steal since Sept. 18, 2013, against the Mets.
Told that he looked comfortable with his larceny, Posey said, "Did I? My heart started beating fast before I decided I was going to go."
Video: SF@LAD: Posey steals base for first time since 2013
One inning later, Posey hammered a 2-2 curveball from Los Angeles starter Mike Bolsinger into the Dodgers' bullpen for his third career regular-season grand slam. It also was his 10th homer of the year, making the Giants the last team in the Majors to boast a player with a double-digit home run total.
"I was able to see some pitches in that at-bat," Posey said. "Fortunately, I got a pitch that stayed up."
Posey nearly didn't receive a chance to go deep. With two outs in the third inning, he took an extremely close 1-2 cutter from Bolsinger that could have been called strike three.
"It was a tough pitch," admitted Posey, who then slapped a foul grounder to third-base coach Steve Decker before homering.
Posey, who led NL catchers in the most recent All-Star voting update, sustained his year-long production against the Dodgers. He has hit safely in all 10 games against them, batting .421 (16-for-38) with a double, three homers and 10 RBIs.
Posey thus stirred the lively sellout crowd of 52,503 at Dodger Stadium. Fittingly, he relished the noise he helped generate.
"The passion that goes back for generations comes out," he observed.