Pablo Sandoval Pitches 9th Inning vs. Dodgers; 3 Batters out in 11 Pitches

Saturday's game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants got so out of hand that a Panda wound up on the mound. 

A panda named Pablo Sandoval.

With the score 15-6 Dodgers at the end of eight innings, the Giants chose not to burn another pitcher for the ninth, opting to use a position player instead. That gave the 5'11", 268-pound right-hander an opportunity to show what type of stuff he has in his repertoire, which apparently includes a nice breaking ball:

One inning, three batters faced, three groundouts. Eight of his 11 pitches found the strike zone.

Since debuting in 2008, Sandoval, 31, had made appearances in the field at third base, second and catcher. Now, he has a pitching outing on his resume along with a spotless 0.00 ERA.

As the Giants pointed out, it had been a while since they had resorted to this strategy:

Only two San Francisco "pitchers" made it through this game without allowing a run, and only one recorded a 1-2-3 inning—Sandoval managed both feats.