Watch: SF Giants’ Buster Posey homers on pitch way off inside corner

SAN FRANCISCO — Buster Posey has taken plenty of impressive swings this season, but few can compare to the one he uncorked on a sinker from Padres starter Jake Arrieta in the first inning on Tuesday at Oracle Park.

With Arrieta ahead in the count 1-2, the veteran starter threw a 90-mile per hour sinker that appeared to be more than six inches off the inside corner of the plate. The misfire didn’t matter to Posey, who found a way to get his barrel on the pitch and send the ball 390 feet into the left center field bleachers for a solo home run.

The pitch from Arrieta was clearly a location mistake as Padres catcher Austin Nola was set up on the outer half of home plate, but it’s not as if the sinker was thrown in a spot where most major league hitters would be able to crush the offering.

According to MLB researcher Sarah Langs, Posey’s home run was 1.37 feet from the center of the plate, making it the furthest inside of any pitch a right-handed Giants batter has homered on since at least 2008.

Posey’s 18th home run of the season pushed the Giants ahead of the Padres 1-0 moments after first baseman Brandon Belt hit into a rare 7-5-3 double play. A baserunning miscue from Tommy La Stella, who expected Belt’s flyball down the left field line to drop, ended up costing the Giants a run after Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado completed a flawless relay to first baseman Eric Hosmer.

Posey was out of the lineup on Monday night when the Giants became the first MLB team to clinch a playoff spot this year. Curt Casali started in Posey’s place after the 11th-year veteran played all three games during the Giants’ weekend series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.