Giants set L.A. park runs record in 19-3 rout

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Los Angeles -- When Giants President Larry Baer tries to control the hand tremors as he signs the checks he will have to write to keep Hunter Pence in San Francisco, he should remind himself what the right fielder brings besides his bat.

And, man, is that bat smoking in the final weeks of his contract year.

The Giants might finish in last place, yet they are still playing as if their season is on the line. A lot of that comes from Pence, who had the most productive night of his career Saturday in a record-setting 19-3 annihilation of the team that soon will be crowned division champs.

Just four nights after a six-RBI game against the Rockies, Pence established a new career best with seven. He hit two singles that drove in three runs, then hit the Giants' first grand slam of 2013, a fifth-inning blow that gave the Giants a 12-1 lead.

That was hardly his only contribution. Earlier in the day, Pence challenged Brandon Belt to raise his home run total and instructed the first baseman to watch video of his prior home runs, what Pence called a "dig me session."

Belt not only hit his 16th, he also had five hits and set his own career high with six RBIs.

That's right. Six RBIs and Belt had to ride on the runner-up float in the Tournament of Pences Parade.

Hunter Pence hits a grand slam as part of the Giants' Dodger Stadium record for most runs. Hunter Pence hits a grand slam as part of the Giants' Dodger Stadium record for most runs. Photo: Stephen Dunn, Getty Images Photo: Stephen Dunn, Getty Images Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Giants set L.A. park runs record in 19-3 rout 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

"I'm a little embarrassed I couldn't get top-RBI guy tonight," Belt said. "I think Hunter always likes to challenge people to have a positive mind-set. He reminds us that we have games to play and we've got to compete every day."

Tim Lincecum, who ran his win streak to four and had two of the Giants' 22 hits, parroted Belt's take on Pence's role in pushing the Giants to win as many games as possible before breaking for the winter in two weeks.

Lincecum said if he re-signs with the Giants and Pence goes elsewhere, "It would be tough not to see him in this uniform."

The pitcher called Pence this year's "unsung hero," although the song is getting louder now that the right fielder has a shot at 100 RBIs for the second consecutive year. That might have seemed far-fetched when the week began, but not now. Pence has 16 in his past five games and 89 overall.

The 13 RBIs from Pence and Belt helped the Giants reach their highest run count in 23 years and set a Dodger Stadium record for most runs in a game by any team. That's quite a feat considering the Dodgers have played there since 1962, and none of the San Francisco teams featuring Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Will Clark, Barry Bonds and many others ever topped 16.

"Go figure," manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's not something we do very often, putting up a lot of runs. But 19. That's a lot of runs in this ballpark. It does show we are capable of doing it. We hit a horrible skid where we couldn't drive runs in. It's been a horrible season driving runs in."

The rout was impressive in so many ways, beginning with the way the Giants battered starter Ricky Nolasco, who had won seven consecutive decisions. Angel Pagan doubled off the wall to start the game, the first of 12 Giants to reach base before they chased Nolasco with one out in the second inning.

Bochy was happy he could pull his regulars and get at-bats for the September call-ups, and even they contributed. Shortstop Ehire Adrianza and catcher Johnny Monell both got their first big-league hits and RBIs.

But, again, this game mostly was about Pence on what he called "definitely a crazy night" and the best run-producing stretch of his career. One more RBI and he would have matched Mays' and Cepeda's San Francisco record.

He was asked if games like this brought pride for a team that has fallen so far, so fast.

"I don't like the word 'pride,' " he said. "Anytime something significant like this happens, it's something to be grateful for and something to be humbled by."

With the Dodgers losing and Diamondbacks winning, L.A. cannot clinch the West before it plays in Arizona in the next series.