The Giants’ starting lineup had two catchers — each with an OPS+ of 66. It had a player who contemplated retiring at 28 last year. A cleanup hitter who needed to move to Korea for a career rejuvenation.
It had nine hitters — three rookies and no All-Stars. More relevantly: the lineup featured eight righties and one lefty.
This is how the Giants operate. The extreme platooning isn’t going to work every time — as Monday night’s pinch-hitting shortcoming exposed — but there’s a method to the math-ness.
With home runs from Joey Bart, Yermín Mercedes and Thairo Estrada, the Giants (44-42) rang up eight runs in three innings against left-handed starter Dallas Keuchel. Estrada added another after Logan Webb dealt six shutout innings to continue his elite performance in a 13-0 Giants victory.
San Francisco’s lopsided lineup construction yielded positive returns immediately. Against the southpaw Keuchel, Austin Slater led off the bottom of the first inning with a double off the right field wall.
Slater entered Tuesday with a .849 OPS against lefties this season and significantly defined splits for his career. He’ll likely never be an All-Star, but he produces like one with a platoon advantage.
Yermín Mercedes, the brief retiree, drove Slater home with a double of his own. Mercedes’ helmet flew off as he rounded first, and he made an animated gesture at second after beating Keuchel — his former teammate from Chicago.
Then rookie David Villar drove in two more and scored to cap a four-run first inning. It couldn’t have been done without a bit of luck — or Diamondback defensive ineptitude.
The Righty Giants weren’t done after one, though.
Joey Bart flipped the order over the next inning with his fifth home run of the season — and first since May 15 off Albert Pujols. He took a beat on his way to first to admire the dead-center shot
Bart’s struggles at the plate have been obvious and well-documented. But his sheer power when he connects shouldn’t be overlooked; it’s why getting the swing-and-misses in check can make all the difference.
After Bart’s bomb, Mercedes snuck a 111.7 missile past the foul pole in left for a two-run homer. It was the hardest-hit home run of the Giants’ season.
To knock Keuchel out of the game, Estrada joined the party with a solo home run to lead off the third inning. SF’s third homer made it 8-0 and ended Keuchel’s start after 2.1 innings. The Giants scored eight runs on eight hits — all of which came from righties against the veteran southpaw.
As the runs piled up for the Giants, starter Logan Webb tossed six shutout innings, striking out eight. The 25-year-old has now allowed five earned runs in his last 40 innings pitched. He lowered his ERA from 3.82 after his June 4 start to 2.82.
For the entire night, Webb was pitching with a comfortable lead. The offense lifted weight off his shoulders and allowed him to leave after 91 pitches.
After Webb exited, Estrada launched his second home run of the night to make it 10-0. It was SF’s fifth game with at least four home runs on the season; the Giants have won each of them.
Just two games prior to Tuesday’s onslaught, the Giants trotted out an almost identical starting lineup against left-hander Mackenzie Gore in San Diego. Then, the Giants exploded for 12 runs.
The strategy worked then, and it worked again against Arizona. The Giants don’t have a Mike Trout or a Freddie Freeman or an Aaron Judge. But they have pieces to plug in. And when they click, like they did on Tuesday, or in San Diego, or in 2021, it can be overwhelming.