Giants right-hander Yusmeiro Petit. Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
PHILADELPHIA — San Francisco Giants right-hander Yusmeiro Petit was already put in the tough position having to fill in for Matt Cain on Tuesday night after the three-time All Star was placed on the disabled list Monday due to elbow soreness.
Then, when Monday night’s starter Ryan Vogelsong lasted just three-plus innings, Giants manager Bruce Bochy was forced to use five relievers for a total of six innings in a 7-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. San Francisco got two innings out of newly arrived George Kontos, 1 1/3 from Javier Lopez, two outs (on a double play) from Jean Machi, plus inning each out of Jeremy Affeldt and Santiago Casilla.
It is not a dire situation, however, and Bochy wouldn’t rule out any of his guys for the following evening if Petit is knocked out early.
“They’re all fine, the guys that I used today,” Bochy said. “Maybe not quite as long — George went a couple of innings, Lopez got stretched out a little bit, but my guess is he can go an inning. Machi, Affeldt, Casilla, they pitched very efficiently, but it would help to get some depth from Petit tomorrow.”
More concerning is Cain, whose 4.18 ERA would be the highest of his career if it stands. He admitted last week he has battled elbow pain all season, and it is unclear at this point how long he will be out.
“I don’t know,” Bochy said. “I wish I could give you a better answer, but I (can’t). We’ll wait a few days here and then we’ll do some more tests on him and then we’ll have a better idea.”
