SAN FRANCISCO — It was a weekend of returns for the Giants. The team came back home after three series on the road, regulars Brandon Crawford and Denard Span returned to the lineup, and most importantly for them, the Giants returned to winning ways.
When Buster Posey sent his 17th inning home run into the nearly empty left field bleachers in the second game of a four-game set against the Cincinnati Reds, he sparked a hot stretch for his squad that has turned into the first three-game win streak of the season. Each of the Giants’ three consecutive wins showed a different facet of the team that can serve as a strength.
The bullpen showed it could hang on to help get a win with 9 scoreless innings in Friday’s marathon, Johnny Cueto proved the starters could carry the team with 8 dominant innings on Saturday, and Sunday was the offense’s turn.
At the start of the season, these Giants were supposed to be a well-balanced contender. Maybe they weren’t exactly World Series favorites, but Bruce Bochy and his squad fully expect to be in the playoff picture come September. This weekend, they flashed the tools they have to get themselves back in that picture. Despite a 15-24 record, it’s still mid-May and the Giants have won four of their last five contests. The team’s confidence, and the fun that comes along with winning, is slowly returning, said Sunday starter Jeff Samardzija.
“When the guys are playing like that and play the defense like they played out there, it makes the game a whole lot of fun,” Samardzija said of Sunday’s offense-driven 8-3 win. “It’s one of those days when you can actually enjoy it.”
There’s hardly a better sign of the Giants’ return to competitiveness than what they were able to do against the Reds this weekend, just one week removed from a shellacking in Cincinnati. In a three-game series in Ohio last weekend, the Reds outscored the visiting Giants 31-5.
In four games this weekend, the Giants came out on top 16-9. Cincinnati is a solid team, and is still sitting above .500, just 2.5 games out first in the NL Central. After Sunday’s finale, Bochy talked about the confidence-building weekend his squad delivered.
“It’s a good bounce back against a club that’s been very good against us,” Bochy said. “We’ve been trying to get this thing headed in the right direction, and we’ve got a tough team coming in, so it’s good to bounce back and get three in a row here.”
The second-place Dodgers will begin a three-game set in San Francisco on Monday after splitting four games with the first-place Rockies this weekend. For the Giants to improve upon the winning record they already own over Los Angeles this season, they’ll need the mix of offense and pitching that carried them this weekend.
Each Giants starter threw at least 6.2 innings against the Reds and the bullpen is in the midst of a 14-inning scoreless streak of its own. Span was on fire at the plate in the series, knocking eight hits in 16 at-bats, including his first two homers of the season. Even Brandon Belt, who had just one hit each game, made his count as each one went for extra bases.
With the returns of Span and Crawford, and closer Mark Melancon expected back Tuesday from the DL, Bochy is beginning to firm up his lineup and rotations. Christian Arroyo moved back to third with Crawford returning, while Eduardo Nunez has a hold on left field for now and played solid defense there throughout the weekend. In times of turmoil, stability is key, and Bochy said as much on Sunday.
“You try not to get down, and just keep going out there and pushing. That’s all you can do,” Bochy said. “We’ve dug ourselves a little hole here, but there’s time to get out of this and get back on track. When you get derailed the way we have, you can’t ever lose your focus. These guys I think are doing a good job.”