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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, July 17, 2006

Santos singles in major league debut

Advertiser Staff and News Services

Kane'ohe's Chad Santos singled in his first major league at-bat for the San Francisco Giants yesterday in a 6-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies at AT&T Park.

The 1999 Saint Louis School graduate was called up from Triple-A Fresno late Saturday evening and caught a 6 a.m. flight yesterday to San Francisco from Colorado Springs, Colo., where Fresno was playing. He entered the game as a defensive replacement as part of a double switch in the top of the eighth inning. He led off the bottom of the eighth by lining a single to center off Phillies reliever Rheal Cormier.

Santos was drafted in the 22nd round by the Kansas City Royals and signed by area scout Eric Tokunaga. Santos signed with the Giants in the offseason as a minor league free agent. He was leading Giants' minor leaguers with 12 home runs and 63 RBIs when he was called up. He was batting .263.

There was a brief reunion of sorts for Santos and the Phillies' Shane Victorino. In Philadelphia's eighth, Victorino came in to pinch-run for Pat Burrell at first base, bringing both Hawai'i players together. Wailuku's Victorino, a 1999 graduate of St. Anthony School, was a sixth-round pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the same draft as Santos. (Victorino had signed a letter of intent to play baseball at Hawai'i and later was offered a football scholarship by UH.) Victorino was picked up by the Phillies in the Rule 5 draft before the 2005 season.

Santos and Victorino played in the inaugural Sugar Mill Classic in 1999. Santos drilled a towering home run over a tree in right field that landed on the street behind Hans L'Orange Park in Waipahu.

With Santos on the Giants roster, Hawai'i has four players in the big leagues. The other two are Atlanta Braves pitcher Tyler Yates (Kaua'i 1995/UH-Hilo) and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Brandon League (Saint Louis 2001).

ELSEWHERE

Twins: Minnesota placed center fielder Torii Hunter on the 15-day disabled list yesterday after learning the five-time Gold Glove award winner has a stress fracture in his left foot.

Hunter was the third Twins outfielder disabled in the past four days. Lew Ford strained a muscle on his right side swinging at a pitch in Thursday's game, and Shannon Stewart returned to the DL for the second time this season after reinjuring his left foot Saturday night.

"We're in dire straits right now," manager Ron Gardenhire said before yesterday's game.