SAN FRANCISCO (AP) —his best command Brandon McCarthy Jersey , he found a way to help the Atlanta Braves on their march toward the postseason.Sanchez kept the Braves close with six strong innings, pinch-hitter Tyler Flowers drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth, and the Braves moved closer to clinching the NL East with a 2-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.The Giants lost their 11th straight, the worst skid since the team moved to San Francisco and the longest for the franchise since 1951.The Braves reduced their magic number for winning the division to 11 with their fifth straight win, matching their best streak of the season, and clinched their first winning record since their last division crown in 2013. Going into Wednesday, Atlanta led second-place Philadelphia by 6½ games.“We’ve worked hard to get to this point,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We’ve grinded through things to get to that position. We can look to bigger things now.”Sanchez remains winless in his last seven starts. He gave up one run on six hits and five walks. He induced double-play grounders to escape bases-loaded, one-out situations in the first and the fourth.“I didn’t have the same command I’ve had before,” Sanchez said. “The defense has helped me so much and they got me out of that inning.”The Giants scored just three runs in the series. They were swept by the Braves in a series of three games or more for the first time since 2011.“It’s never fun, obviously. Everybody comes out here and puts in the work, grinding daily http://www.bravesfanproshop.com/authentic-nick-markakis-jersey , trying to do everything we can to win ballgames,” Giants first baseman Brandon Belt said. “These games do matter to us.”Flowers beat out an infield hit that scored Charlie Culberson from third base with two outs in the ninth to put the Giants ahead. A replay review confirmed first base umpire Jeremie Rehak’s ruling that Belt’s foot was off the bag when Flowers reached first.“I just don’t get that call was not overturned based on the brief look I had at it,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “It shows you how much the call on the field plays.”Culberson singled leading off the inning against Will Smith (2-3). He advanced to second on Ender Inciarte’s sacrifice bunt and took third on Dansby Swanson’s grounder.Dan Winkler (3-0) pitched a scoreless eighth, and Jonny Venters worked a scoreless ninth for his second save.Derek Holland matched Sanchez, giving up one run in six innings of five-hit ball. He struck out seven and walked one. Over his last six starts, Holland is 2-0 with a 1.59 ERA and 34 strikeouts in 34 innings.Evan Longoria put the Giants ahead with an RBI single in the third. The Braves drew even in the sixth on Freddie Freeman’s run-scoring single.SPIKEDSanchez stayed in the game after Gregor Blanco stepped on his heel when Sanchez was covering first for the first out in the sixth.“It scared me as soon as it happened, the pain … but I wanted to finish the inning,” Sanchez said.DISRUPTERSAsked about his team’s potential role as a spoiler, a term he’s bristled at in the past, Bochy said, “I probably prefer ‘disrupters.'”The Giants, who are four years removed from winning their third World Series title in a five-year span Jose Ramirez Jersey , play nine of their 15 remaining games against contending teams.“It’s not a great position to be in, but it is a motivating thing for the players this time of year when they’re not in it,” Bochy said.TRAINER’S ROOMBraves: Culberson was in Wednesday’s starting lineup at third base in place of Johan Camargo, who left Tuesday’s game with left groin tightness.Giants: Belt was back in the lineup a day after being held out with a sore right knee, an injury that may require offseason surgery.UP NEXTBraves: RHP Kevin Gausman (9-10, 3.89 ERA) will pitch Friday at home against Washington. Gausman is 3-1 with a 4.34 ERA in five career starts against the Nationals.Giants: RHP Chris Stratton (9-9, 4.99) will pitch Friday’s series opener at AT&T Park against the Colorado Rockies. The team’s winningest pitcher is 1-2 with a 2.84 ERA in four starts since his most recent callup from Triple-A Sacramento on Aug. 21. Trey Mancini’s natural position is first base. Moving Chris Davis to DH would allow him to fully focus on offense. Preference shouldn’t be given to Mark Trumbo and his expiring contract."WhiteFanposts Fanshots Sections Commentary & AnalysisOrioles ProspectsOrioles Game RecapsOrioles News and RumorsCamdencastCommentary & AnalysisA solution to the Mancini/Davis/Trumbo logjamNew,31commentsTrey Mancini’s natural position is first base. Moving Chris Davis to DH would allow him to fully focus on offense. Preference shouldn’t be given to Mark Trumbo and his expiring contract.a Rookie of the Year-caliber campaign), he has a chance to be a major piece of the next competitive Orioles club. Being a complete rebuilding year, all focus on should be what that next competitive team will look like. Preferential treatment should be given to him ahead of Davis and Trumbo. As such, Mancini should move to his natural position of first base in 2019.Mancini should be commended for learning to play the outfield on the fly during 2017’s spring training. He did not play one inning of outfield in the minors and transitioned as well as could be expected. While he seemingly makes the routine plays, advanced metrics show that he simply doesn’t belong in a major league outfield. According to Fangraphs Ronald Acuna Jr. Jersey , he has cost the Orioles 13 runs with his outfield defense over the past two seasons. His UZR is-13.4 during that time. Baseball Reference agrees, rating him as a -3.3 dWAR player during that stretch. What is most disheartening is that all of those metrics rate Mancini as substantially worse in 2018 than 2017. To be clear, Trey Mancini won’t be mistaken for a Gold Glover at first base. In 687 career innings at first base, Fangraphs also grades him negatively in defensive runs saved and UZR. But he is more run neutral at his natural position (-1.6 UZR). It is clear in watching Mancini that his body type and athleticism fits better at first base. Playing his natural position would most likely make Mancini more comfortable and positively impact his offensive game. That has been the case thus far in his young career. He has slashed .274/.317/.484 while playing first base as opposed to .258/.316/.414 in left field. Moving Trey Mancini to first base would require moving Chris Davis off of the position. Davis has played some solid defense over the years. Fangraphs rated him positively in defensive runs saved and UZR from 2014-2016 and he was a Gold Glove Award finalist in 2016. Regularly watching games has given me an appreciation of how good he is at scooping throws out of the dirt and saving his teammates errors. But his URZ was -0.9 and -1.8 in 2017 and 2018 respectively. Baseball Reference graded his dWAR at -2.3 over the past two seasons. While the scrutiny has been on Crush’s putrid offensive performance, his defense is suffering as well.Where should Davis play if moved off of first base? He is not a viable defensive option at third base or outfield. That leaves designated hitter. Interestingly, Davis has been quite effective as a DH throughout his career. In 468 plate appearances, he is hitting .269/.350/.492. All of those numbers are better than the ones he’s posted while serving as a first baseman. Getting Davis back to form is best for all parties. Perhaps letting him focus 100% of his attention on hitting would help. It is worth a try, because there are still four years left on that mega-deal he signed. If Mancini and Davis occupy first base and designated hitter, where to put Mark Trumbo? It is still unknown if he will be ready for Opening Day thanks to the knee injury he suffered last year. When he returns, he should definitely not be the everyday right fielder on a defense that needs improvement. He has cost his teams a total of 36 runs defensively over his nine seasons playing outfield. The Orioles have a number of intriguing outfield prospects ready for the majors throughout the 2019 season. This includes Cedric Mullins, D.J. Stewart, Austin Hays Sean Newcomb Jersey , and possibly Yusniel Diaz. They could also sign a solid defensive outfielder to a one-year deal, which would tighten up the defense and provide a potential mid-season trade chip when a prospect may be ready for the show. So making Trumbo the full-time right fielder is not a viable option.Trumbo carries the least value of the three players mentioned here. His contract expires at the end of 2019 and is in no way a part of the Orioles’ future plans. (And he doesn’t even like celebratory pies!) The front office and whoever the manager will be should not place emphasis on getting Trumbo playing time. 2019 will not be measured by wins and losses, but by how young players who will be a part of the next good Orioles team perform and progress. Trumbo should not block one of those players. Once he’s healthy, the Orioles should rotate Trumbo in at first-base, DH, and right field on more of a part-time basis. The only reason he should see the field is to show other clubs he’s healthy, and Mike Elias should trade him at the first chance he gets. Trey Mancini is young and controllable, and the Orioles are stuck with Chris Davis’ contract. Mark Trumbo isn’t a part of the future plans and his contract expires at the end of this year. Valuable playing time should be given to younger players who are part of that future. And those young players may even enjoy fun, camaraderie-building activities such as celebratory pies to the face.