Never did a great game finish faster: a leadoff single by Jose Pirela, a sacrifice bunt by Brett Gardner, then Derek, inside-outing a first-pitch middling fastball by Baltimore reliever Evan Meek, singling sharply to right to score the pinch-runner Antoan Richardson for the walkoff.
The vendors are polite and the cleanup crew moves as fast as a leadoff man.
But they got off to a fast start Wednesday when Angel Pagan, their leadoff hitter, launched the second pitch of the game into the right-field stands, the first of three Giants home runs.
Valentine said that no player is irreplaceable, and that he could be comfortable using a leadoff hitter who is not fast.
The leadoff man is typically a player who is fast afoot, makes frequent contact with the ball, and reaches base consistently.
Phelps posted the fastest time in the world this year in the 100-meter freestyle while swimming the leadoff leg of the United States' victorious freestyle relay on Friday.
Those had been their only victories since May 5. Valentine batted Darren Bragg leadoff for the third game in a row, and started three of his fastest players: Timo Perez, Tsuyoshi Shinjo and Desi Relaford.
Her leadoff time on the United States' gold-medal-winning 4x200 freestyle relay was faster than the winning time in the women's individual 200 freestyle.
She added another gold in the 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay, helping the American women to victory with a remarkable leadoff swim (1 min 55.06 sec) that was actually half a second faster than the first-place finisher's time in the individual 200-metre freestyle race.
Leadoff walks are lethal.
