Since manager Gabe Kapler, with his team at 6-13, reassured that he was confident in his club’s potential and unbothered by its early-season standings, the Giants have rattled off five straight victories.
In the latest, LaMonte Wade Jr. and Wilmer Flores homered and got plenty of help from the rest of the batting order, supporting another strong Anthony DeSclafani (6IP, 2ER, 6K, 1BB) start.
San Francisco (11-13) scored seven runs on 13 hits, rendering a monster performance from the reigning National League MVP a mere footnote. The Giants’ all-around performance added up to a 7-3 victory at Oracle Park.
“Early in the season, we weren’t getting the job done,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said postgame. “At that point, you know that you’re not really that team. You get Haniger and Slater back, Conforto is back in your lineup regularly, Joc Pederson is back in your lineup regularly. All of the sudden, your bench is deeper. We knew that our pitching staff was performing well, but they were giving up home runs and that was causing games to go in the other direction. Things have turned the other way, and a lot of that is just getting healthy and our true talent emerging here in the last five games or so.”
Paul Goldschmidt’s first home run came before the official Giants Twitter account promoted Wednesday night’s 6:45 first pitch. Goldschmidt’s second came off Anthony DeSclafani’s first pitch of the third inning.
The reigning National League Most Valuable Player’s career .988 OPS in Oracle Park was rapidly climbing with his 29th and 30th career homers against the Giants.
Already this year, prominent Giant Killer Max Muncy took over a series at Third and King. Giant Heart-Breaker Aaron Judge homered twice in the season-opening series.
Goldschmidt, another Big Bad in the Giants Cinematic Universe, appeared to be playing spoiler. He extended his on-base streak at Oracle Park to 28 games with a 4-for-5 night.
“Other than Goldy just completely owning me, I thought I threw the ball well,” DeSclafani said.
But both of Goldschmidt’s homers were solo shots, and Wade halved the Cardinals’ lead with one of his own in the fourth.
Wade, who replaced Mike Yastrzemski in the lineup after he was scratched with left side tightness, had never homered against a left-handed pitcher before. The Giants have shielded him against same-side pitching because of his career .112 average against lefties.
Yet Wade, whose plate discipline has allowed him to reach base over 41% of the time this year, looked comfortable against Steven Matz, STL’s starter. Comfortable enough to park a fastball 407 feet into the 415 club in Triples Alley — the deepest part of Oracle Park.
Wade has been seeing the ball so well, a skill that translates regardless of handedness the pitcher on the mound is, he said. The 29-year-old said he was just looking for a good pitch to hit that at-bat; he got one in a sinker over the middle of the plate.
Later in the same inning, a trio of singles by Blake Sabol, Austin Slater and Thairo Estrada with two outs knotted the score.
Slater’s single in that rally was his second of the night and third time reaching base. All four of his hits since returning from the injured list have been to the other way.
San Francisco tacked on another run in the sixth, when Mitch Haniger singled, advanced to third on an error by center fielder Lars Nootbar and scored on a wild pitch. St. Louis’ defense, historically a strength, has been a huge bruise — both in this series and overall this season.
Haniger gave the Giants a 3-2 lead, and by then, DeSclafani was done. The two Goldschmidt homers were the only two runs he allowed in six innings — his fourth quality start in five tries.
“Getting back to the shapes of how everything was in 21 — the slider and the two-seam pairing together,” DeSclafani said when asked of the key to his early success. “Trying to mix and match with that.”
After Tristan Beck worked around a leadoff walk, Flores provided insurance for the final two innings with a two-run blast to left.
Flores’ fourth homer of the season left his bat at 100.4 mph and just barely cleared the wall.
Flores in particular, though, has been highlighted this week — not as much for his performance necessarily but in a big-picture sense. With Slater and Haniger back, the Giants’ lineup against left-handed pitchers that at one point ranked 28th in OPS is much longer. Flores supplied power from the seventh spot in the order.
Spectacular baserunning by Thairo Estrada in the eighth and a standup RBI triple from Wade added two more in the eighth.
A week ago, nothing was clicking for the Giants. Now, everything is. Five straight wins says as much.