San Francisco Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: Back Over .500 Again

It took a hard-fought four games against the Padres, but the San Francisco Giants have gotten back over .500 with three wins.

1 – Strong Start

The starting rotation for San Francisco continues to get better, and this four-game series against the Padres was maybe their best collective effort yet. Madison Bumgarner started it on Thursday with his best performance of his young season, shutting out the Padres over eight innings while allowing only five baserunners to earn his first win.

Chris Stratton followed with his fourth quality start in his last five outings, allowing two earned runs over six innings. Andrew Suarez continued to show poise beyond his years, working around eight hits to give up just one run in 5.2 innings, aided by three groundball double plays. Dereck Rodriguez ended the series with the best start of his infantile big league career. After a leadoff home run, he kept the Padres from scoring again in seven innings, the longest of his five starts.

Last month, the Giants’ rotation continually put the team in bad spots. They went short and gave up too many runs, forcing the lineup to play catch-up and forcing the bullpen to throw way too much. They’ve stepped up in a big way recently, doing their best to give the lineup a shot even as they continue to shuffle hitters on and off the disabled list. It’s been an excellent turnaround, especially considering the rotation isn’t working with a couple of their big arms.

2 – A Feel Good Moment for a Feel Good Player

With the Giants trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the 11th, a bases-loaded, one-out situation came down to Hunter Pence. The Giants’ occasional left fielder entered the at-bat hitting just .187, and he quickly fell behind 0-2 to Brad Hand. The Padres’ closer went with a slider below the zone, but didn’t get it down far enough. Pence slapped it to the right side, where it skipped past first baseman Eric Hosmer and into right field, scoring a run and giving the Giants a huge come-from-behind win to propel them over .500.

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Pence is always the most positive person, keeping an upbeat mindset despite his shortcomings this season. Even still, his underperformance this year had to be weighing heavy on his mind, so coming up with that hit must have been a massive relief for a guy who has done so much for the Giants. If anyone deserves to enjoy one of those happy moments, it’s Hunter Pence.

3 – Back Over .500

With three wins in four games against the Padres, the Giants are back over .500 at 39-38. Getting onto the winning side of that mark has not been easy, and staying there has been even more difficult, but the Giants are in a good place to continue building on what has been a 5-2 homestand so far.

The Giants are now 24-13 in San Francisco, which has made up for their poor play on the road (16-26). After an off-day on Monday, they have three more games at home against the Colorado Rockies, and then are back at home for 10 more following a two-city, six-game roadtrip. They will need to start winning more games on the road, but they are giving themselves a great chance by being so strong at home.

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3 DOWN

1 – Too Close for Comfort

This was not a good series for blood pressure. On Thursday, the two teams were scoreless until the fifth, when Bumgarner broke the tie with a sacrifice fly. They scored a couple insurance runs in the eighth, but a leadoff single in the ninth was still enough to make you clench a little bit.

On Saturday, San Francisco took a fourth-run lead into the ninth, but the Padres cut the deficit in half after some poor defense from the Giants and at one point had the tying run at the plate. And of course, they needed a walk-off in the 11th to get past the Padres, who took a slim lead in the top of the inning.

The Giants have been doing the torture ball thing for years, but that doesn’t make it any easier to sit through.

2 – Can’t Come Through

Though the Giants took the series, they had a lot of opportunities to make the gaps a little wider. They struggled continuously with ducks on the pond, going 5-34 (.147) with runners in scoring position over four games.

They were hitless in the first six chances in the situation on Sunday, not getting that elusive breakthrough hit until Pence’s walk-off. Better late than never, eh?

3 – The Rest of the Division

After a long stretch of futility for just about everyone in the division, the top has settled itself in. The Arizona Diamondbacks have re-opened a 2.5-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have righted their ship and are back in the race.

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That leaves the Giants five games back. Despite winning three of four against San Diego, they lost a game to Arizona in the standings. The good news is that they are still in the thick of it (they were 23.5 games out at this point last season), and are only three games out of a wildcard spot, as well.

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