Brandon Belt placed on the IL, Jason Vosler recalled

The San Francisco Giants are gearing up for a four-day showdown with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and hoping that they’ll have better luck than they did over the weekend, when LA swept them in a three-game series at Oracle Park. But the Giants will be without one of their best hitters, as Brandon Belt has been placed on the 10-day Injured List.

Belt missed a good chunk of games last week while dealing with a side injury, but returned during the Dodgers series. He left Tuesday’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks after re-aggravating the injury on a swing, and on Wednesday hit the IL with an oblique strain.

Taking his place on the roster will be fellow left-handed hitting infielder Jason Vosler, who was recalled from AAA Sacramento.

Belt’s absence will be felt, as he’s hitting .228/.350/.474, good for an OPS of .824, which trails only Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, the heavily-platooned Darin Ruf, and the small sample size of Steve Duggar. The Giants have made patience and battling pitchers a priority and Belt is tied with Evan Longoria for the team lead in walks.

Vosler made his MLB debut earlier in the season, and is hitting 2-14 with 1 double, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts. In 59 AAA plate appearances he’s slashing .200/.322/.356, with 6 walks to 8 strikeouts.

The Giants also announced that outfielder Braden Bishop (Hunter Bishop’s older brother) and right-handed pitcher Trevor Hildenberger cleared waivers and have been reassigned to Sacramento. Both players had been waiver claims last week, but had been quickly designated for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster for pitchers Nick Tropeano and Scott Kazmir.