Giants Extend Winning Streak, Shrink Magic Number With Win Over Padres

When September rolls around, it feels like the Giants never lose.

Pablo Sandoval continued his hot streak, Ryan Vogelsong finally turned in an impressive outing and the Giants bested the Padres 5-1 to shrink their magic number down to two games. If the Dodgers lose and the Giants win tomorrow, San Francisco will be playoff-bound.

Vogelsong pitched six decent innings, and while he scattered some hits, the only costly mistake he made was to Chase Headley. The slugger hit a home run into right-center field to give the Padres a 1-0 lead in the fourth, but the Giants rallied. Posey and Crawford drove in runs with singles, and Scutaro hit a ball into the hole to plate Angel Pagan.

Scutaro got on base three times while extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Sandoval continued another streak, too, by hitting an inside pitch into right field for a home run. The shot lit up AT&T Park and sealed the win for the Giants, who are 5-0 in their current homestand.

Sandoval has been hitting everything, and he hit a pitch that nearly hit him in the head. He made decent contact, too, as he singled. Sandoval got three hits and walked once, as he increased his batting average to .291. His stats got a lot worse, but they’re now back to normal. And luckily, he’s heating up at the right time.

Even though Sandoval was great, the best play of the game probably came from Gregor Blanco. Blanco quickly gathered a double from Yasmani Grandal and threw to Brandon Crawford, who threw a one-hopper home to Buster Posey. Posey picked the short-hop and tagged Headley out at the plate, preventing a tie.

Crawford continued his hot streak with two singles, and he made some nice plays behind Vogelsong. Vogelsong had great movement on his pitches and he commanded them, but he definitely got some luck. Nonetheless, he earned his 13th win and shrunk San Francisco’s magic number.

Before the game, Posey was honored as the winner of the Willie Mac award, which honors the Giant who shows the best leadership and spirit towards the game. Then, he went out and caught nine innings, while grounding a single into the hole to score a run. Even though he wasn’t at his best, he found a way to make an impact and pad his incredible stats.

Madison Bumgarner (15-10, 3.26 ERA) takes on Andrew Werner (2-1, 3.68 ERA) tomorrow as the Giants try to clinch the NL West.