By Jeremy Harness

photo credit: Sacramento Bee Jose Luis Villegas–Daniela Delao takes a selfie of  the San Francisco Giants Hunter Pence before the Giants at Sacramento Rivercats exhibition game at Raley Field Wednesday night

SACRAMENTO – Less than a week remains until the Giants kick off the 2016 season, and from the way things looked Wednesday night, they don’t have very many issues at all.

There have been a few minor injuries here and there, but the Giants have made it through this spring training otherwise unscathed, making things considerably easier for them to get a constant rhythm and feel for each other, which is very important considering the number of new additions to the lineup.

Now, back to Wednesday for a moment, Sure, they were going up against their Triple-A squad, but the bats looked sharp in an 8-4 win over the Sacramento River Cats at Raley Field, the first-ever meeting between these two teams.

“The atmosphere was just terrific,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “I saw a different energy level out of these guys (Wednesday night). The guys enjoyed it.

“It was a good break from spring training.”

Johnny Cueto went six innings and give up three runs on eight hits, including a two-run homer by Hak-Ju Lee in the top of the second inning that gave the River Cats an early 2-0 lead.

However, he settled down and even helped himself with the bat as well. Brandon Crawford brought the big club right back in the bottom of the second with a two-run shot of his own, a line drive that sailed just over the short wall in right field.

After Kelby Tomlinson doubled and then reached third on a sac fly, Cueto then brought him home with a single up the middle to give the Giants a lead that they would not relinquish.

“There’s a lot of eagerness, a lot of enthusiasm,” Hunter Pence said. “It’s a good time, it’s an exciting time just enjoy the challenge of what we’re about to do.

“I’m excited about this year.”

Pence got into the action, too. In the third, Pence added to the Giants’ lead with a solo homer that was just past center fielder Gorkys Hernandez’s reach.

Two innings later, Buster Posey tagged Matt Lujan for a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to put the game out of reach.