Hunter Pence fractures left ulna

— -- SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- San Francisco Giants right fielder Hunter Pence suffered a nondisplaced fracture of his left ulna Thursday and will be out six to eight weeks, the team said.

Pence was hit on the left arm by a pitch from hard-throwing Chicago Cubs prospect Corey Black in the sixth inning of Thursday's spring training game. X-rays taken before the end of the game confirmed the injury to the ulna, one of two bones that make up the forearm.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy left the dugout during the game to visit Pence in the trainer's room and see how his right fielder felt.

"You know Hunter, he's always upbeat, optimistic," Bochy said before the official diagnosis was made. "He tried to get out of the way, and [the pitch] kind of ran and caught him there. If it is broken, the silver lining is, it's this early in the spring, we'll have a month to start the healing process."

Few players might be more important to the Giants' effort to defend their World Series title than Pence. The former Astros and Phillies star has hit .271/.328/.452 in 2½ seasons for the Giants in the heart of their batting lineup.

He has played in 383 straight games -- the longest active streak in the majors.

As far as the immediate impact on the lineup, Bochy said he'd continue to play his current collection of outfielders in Pence's absence.

"Same guys we're throwing out there, we're not going to change anything: [ Norichika] Aoki and [ Gregor] Blanco and [ Juan] Perez and [ Justin] Maxwell, those guys will be going out there," Bochy said. "[General manager Brian Sabean] will talk after I'm done here. You hate to see it, unfortunately, but these things do happen. This guy's worked so hard all winter, you hate to see it in his second game out there. We're still hoping for the best news, still hoping we're wrong on this call."

Aoki and Maxwell, both former Royals, joined the Giants this offseason, while Blanco and Perez are the Giants' regular outfield reserves. All four are already contending for playing time in left field or for roles coming off the bench in the Giants' mix-and-match scheme that keeps their bench players busy.

Pence's last major injury to either his hand or wrist area was a chip fracture in his right wrist in 2007, his rookie season with the Astros, which put him on the disabled list for almost a month and forced him to miss 27 games.