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It was a rare night for the Giants on Monday. They hit the ball just as well as their starting pitcher threw it. Rookie Chris Shaw was at the heart of a 12-hit performance from the Giants offense, en route to a 4-2 win over the San Diego Padres.
The win was the first time since September 3 that the Giants had scored more than three runs. They notched a hit in every inning but the seventh. It was also a night that Shaw and his rookie counterpart Andy Suarez had their fantastic nights cut short.
Shaw entered the game on the heels of a 2-for-4 performance, but before that, he was 1-for-22. It begged the question whether he’d maintain the momentum of the previous night, or revert to the slump he had.
The 6-foot-3 made it clear which option he preferred. Shaw went 3-for-3 with two doubles and a run scored, but was pulled for a pinch-running Gorkys Hernandez after his second double in the sixth inning. By that time, the Giants were leading 4-1.
Those runs started with a solo home run for Brandon Crawford, his 13th home run of the year and just his third since July 1. Two batters later, Shaw picked up his first double of the night, and two more batters later, Aramis Garcia singled in Shaw to give the Giants a 2-1 lead.
The only Padres run to that point came from a solo home run from Austin Hedges in the second inning. Outside of that, Suarez left very little for the Padres to work with, allowing just four hits in 7 2/3 innings.
In the fifth, a leadoff single from Gregor Blanco was followed two batters later with a two-run home run from Evan Longoria, his team-leading 16th home run of the season. It put the Giants up 4-1, a lead that held until the eighth.
Suarez started the eighth with a walk, of which he had four, but his pitch count was still below 80 pitches. He struck out his next batter and picked up a ground out from Wil Myers. But for some reason, at just 87 pitches through 7 2/3 innings, Suarez’s night was done.
Bruce Bochy moved to Mark Melancon, who walked his first batter in Reyes, before allowing a run-scoring single to Hunter Renfroe. That was the end of Melancon’s night, as Bochy brought in Tony Watson for a one-pitch ground out to end the inning.
From there, Will Smith closed out the ninth to secure the Giants’ third win in four games.