Streaking Crawford moves up in Giants' order

SAN FRANCISCO -- Hoping that Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford can continue his hot hitting, manager Bruce Bochy elevated him in the batting order for Wednesday night's game against the Washington Nationals.

Crawford originally was slated to hit sixth. He rose to the fifth spot when third baseman Pablo Sandoval, feeling too ill to play, was scratched from the lineup about 45 minutes before gametime.

Crawford entered the game batting .450 (9-for-20) during a six-game hitting streak, lifting his average from .234 to .255. Tuesday, Crawford tripled and scored San Francisco's lone run in the eighth inning and lost out on a sixth-inning RBI when he singled but Sandoval was thrown out at home plate.

Crawford batted sixth in three of his previous 60 starts, the only occasions this year when he hit higher than seventh. Before Wednesday, his .286 average with runners in scoring position helped him amass 33 RBIs. That ranked second on the club to Michael Morse's 42. Moreover, by comparison, Crawford totaled 45 RBIs in 2012 and 43 RBIs in 2013.

"I like the way he's swinging now," Bochy said, explaining the move. "He's squaring up the ball really consistently."