Thumb ailing, Panda rests against Bucs

PITTSBURGH -- Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval was out of the starting lineup Wednesday, but he ended up seeing some action.

Sandoval injured his left thumb on Tuesday night when the Pirates' Starling Marte kicked his glove hand on a slide into third base in the ninth inning.

"His thumb on his glove hand is pretty sore," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He's going to try and take some swings in the cage and let me know if he's available to come off the bench."

Sandoval was hitting .167 and was in a 3-for-25 slump at the plate entering Wednesday's action, but he delivered a single off the bench after pinch-hitting for Tim Lincecum in the fifth inning of a 4-3 loss to the Pirates. Sandoval eventually came around to score on Brandon Belt's two-run double.

"This guy can hit," Bochy said. "You get caught if you give him a couple of days, it would be nice if Joaquin Arias was swinging the bat a little better, that would make that a little easier, too. But we need to get Sandoval going, but there does come a point where you know if you gotta make a change, you make it."