SAN FRANCISCO – The streaks – yes, plural – finally are over for the Giants in all the right ways.
Fighting back for a 6-5 victory Wednesday night at Oracle Park, the Giants snapped a seven-game losing streak against the San Diego Padres that dated back to last season. They were 0-4 against the Padres this season prior to the win.
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SIGN UP HERE They also showed their most life offensively in weeks. The Giants hadn’t scored five or more runs since May 16, and only had scored four in three games since then. But in the final four innings, the Giants scored all six of their runs.
Starting pitcher Kyle Harrison couldn’t get through the fifth inning. Not to worry, the Giants’ bullpen held it down for the young left-hander. A combination of Sean Hjelle, Tyler Rogers, Ryan Walker and Randy Rodriguez kept the Padres scoreless over the final 4 2/3 innings. Rodriguez earned his first save of his young career.
Here are three takeaways from the Giants’ much-needed win against the Padres.
Harrison’s Tough Outing
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At 6-foot-3 and 235 pounds, Gavin Sheets isn’t built for speed. The 29-year-old first baseman is in his fifth MLB season and on his second team. Wednesday night was his 492nd game in the majors, and he entered with exactly one career triple.
That number doubled in Sheets’ first at-bat of the night. Sheets roped a hanging slurve off the bricks in Triples Alley to score two runs in the top of the first inning. In the top of the fifth inning, Sheets ended Harrison’s night on an odd sequence.
With one out and runners on second and third base, Sheets hit a one-hopper up the middle that bounced off Harrison’s left throwing elbow and into right field. The single plated both runners and sent Harrison to the dugout.
It’s not like the Padres crushed balls left and right off Harrison. He got tough luck on multiple infield hits, making his line of five earned runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings look worse than it really was. However, the nine hits Harrison allowed were his most ever in a Giants jersey.
Fresh Faces
On a day where the Giants said goodbye to LaMonte Wade Jr. and looked to inject life into a struggling offense, it was the same result the first time two new players stepped to the plate. Both Dominic Smith and Daniel Johnson struck out in the bottom of the second inning. But Smith followed his disappointing debut at-bat with the Giants by flashing some leather to start the top half of the next inning.
Padres designated hitter Luis Arraez worked an 11-pitch at-bat to lead off the second inning, and looked to continue extending his battle with Harrison. Smith had other plans. The left-hander made an incredible diving back-handed snag down the first-base line.
Smith grounded out softly to third baseman Manny Machado his next time up, though Johnson had much better luck his second crack at starting pitcher Nick Pivetta. Johnson started his own little two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth when he singled to center field, stole second base and then scored on a Patrick Bailey double to right field.
Johnson again singled up the middle to center field in the bottom of the seventh, this time knocking Pivetta out of the game. He finished the night 2-for-4, and Smith was hitless in four at-bats. Both showed out defensively as Johnson tracked down a big-time catch in the right-center gap to preserve the Giants’ lead in the ninth inning.
Bats Wake Up
Through the first four innings, it looked like the Giants’ offense would continue to be stuck in the mud. Bailey’s double got the ball rolling, and just like that, the Giants remembered what it was like seeing runs scored for their side.
With one swing, the Giants’ deficit was cut in half in the bottom of the sixth inning. Matt Chapman sent a two-run blast to left field that just barely cleared the fence to make it a 5-3 game. Every inch counts.
The Giants’ first two batters in their lineup, Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee, then did something that has seemed impossible as of late. Ramos’ bases-loaded double off the left-field wall in the seventh inning scored two runs to make it a 5-5 game, hyping the Giants and every fan at the ballpark. Lee followed Ramos by hitting a sacrifice fly to center field, giving the Giants the lead and their most runs in nearly three weeks.
As a team, the Giants went 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position, and Lee and Johnson each enjoyed a multi-hit game in the win.