Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Another win, this one coming out of left field.
But this Giants lineup seem to hit long balls every day, so we only mean that literally.
The left-field platoon of Alex Dickerson (a third-inning homer) and Darin Ruf (the seventh-inning go-ahead shot) did the big damage, and the bullpen was brilliant in a 6-5 victory over the Mariners at Oracle Park on Tuesday, giving the Giants (22-21) their first winning record since they were 5-4 on Aug. 1.
A lot has changed since early August, but the team is about the same, surviving the trade deadline because the front office believed it could keep charging. It has, now winning seven of nine and scoring four or more runs in 10 straight games, their first such streak since 2007. They snapped the Mariners’ MLB-best six-game winning streak, doing so with three dingers that quickly erased a 5-1 deficit.
The Giants do not go away, and their bullpen has been good enough to put other teams away. It’s a formula not just for making the playoffs — which, if the season ended today, they would be in line for — but for doing some damage in October.
Ruf did damage against Seattle lefty reliever Anthony Misiewicz in what had been a tie game, stepping into a hanging breaking ball and sending it just clear of the left-field fence. It was his third of the year and is now 6-for-his-last-9 with a pair of dingers. But he’s only playing against southpaws — he was pinch-hitting for Dickerson — in a platoon that lacks defense but is overflowing with offense.
Ruf'ed up that baseball. #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/riTo8P7NN5
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) September 9, 2020
The defense was handled late, however. After Ruf’s at-bat, the Giants subbed in newly called-up Luis Basabe, who ran down a Phil Ervin flyout to preserve another solid inning from Jarlin Garcia (whose ERA is still 0.00 in 13 frames). The Giants are maximizing the position.
A two-run moon shot from Dickerson — who was questionable to play in the first place after blasting his knee with a foul ball the game prior — had begun their comeback in the third, which was followed by Mauricio Dubon hitting some clouds with his own two-run shot in the fourth. Dubon watched it go, not knowing whether he had hooked it, then scurried to first, but he could take his time. The Giants had erased a four-run deficit in an eye-blink against a wounded Mariners staff.
In the second, Brandon Crawford hit a rocket back at starter Ljay Newsome, an out recorded but the ball hitting Newsome’s pitching hand and knocking him out of the game. X-rays were negative.
Not how you plan to knock a pitcher out of a game ? pic.twitter.com/2aMBo8Cora
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 9, 2020
The Giants got to the Seattle bullpen and their own was excellent; Caleb Baragar froze Shed Long Jr. with a fastball that painted the outside corner to evade trouble in the sixth; Tyler Rogers allowed two baserunners but no runs in the seventh; Garcia was solid and Tony Watson recorded his second save of the year with a one-hit ninth.
Logan Webb put the Giants in a hole but did not bury them. He allowed a run in the first, three in the second and another in the third, the biggest blow a JP Crawford bases-clearing double in the second. He struggled with his command all night, walking three and hitting two (both times Dylan Moore), but keeping it close enough for the powerful Giants offense to strike.
He was faltering again in the fifth and put two on, but he induced an inning-ending double play from Ty France, punctuating the play by slapping his glove. A five-inning, five-run outing is rarely something to be proud of, but Webb hung in until the Giants’ offense came around.
He gave way to a bullpen game, and a Giants bullpen that entered with a 2.47 ERA since Aug. 17 was better. Every facet of their team is better these days, and the postseason is coming closer and closer to becoming a reality.