Giants first baseman Brandon Belt was hit in the hand with a pitch from Dodgers starter Paul Maholm leading off the top of the second inning on Friday night. Belt stayed in to run the bases, but did not take his position in the bottom half of the inning. Instead, Joaquin Arias took his spot at first base while Belt was attended to in the clubhouse.
Bad news for the Giants: CSN Bay Area’s Andrew Baggarly reports that Belt has a broken thumb and will “undoubtedly” go on the disabled list for the first time in his career. Baggarly adds that an easy short-term roster solution would involve Belt going on the DL and Matt Cain coming off of it, but the Giants will want to address their first base situation regardless, which could mean Travis Ishikawa could come up from Triple-A Fresno.
Belt entered the game as one of the Giants’ most productive hitters, slashing .264/.312/.504 with nine home runs and 18 RBI.