Kung Fu Panda's big night

Pablo Sandoval is an unorthodox batter. The switch-hitter isn’t afraid to swing at any pitch between his eyebrows and shoe tops. Not all hitters could survive and thrive at the big-league level with this aggressive approach, but the Kung Fu Panda makes it work.

Much better as a left-handed hitter this year, Sandoval is unorthodox in another way. Unlike most lefties, he doesn’t tee off on pitches thrown down-and-in. He hit .235 on these pitches this year, slugging a mere .324 in 2014.

A hard worker, but as a hitter Sandoval is more art than science. Saturday night against the Cardinals, Sandoval handled some tough pitches inside and looked every bit an artist, picking up three hits and a walk. All from the left side of the plate, all located in the lower inside corner of the plate.

In the second inning, he went down and pounded a ball deep to right field. Randal Grichuck had it but couldn’t hold on as he collided with the fence, dropping it for a double as he tumbled to the ground.

In the fourth inning, he went down even lower to golf a single into right field.

The Panda walked in the fifth inning, laying off two close pitches just below the strike zone on the inner half. And then, in the seventh inning, Sandoval added his third hit on, you guessed it, another ball down and in.

The third pitch is more down the middle than down-and-in but Sandoval handled it all the same. It was just one of those nights for the Giants third baseman, the kind where everything went right. He usually prefers ‘em at his eyes but, for one night at least, he made the ankle-high fastball work as well.