The San Francisco Giants hit five home runs on Tuesday and each felt very important, in the heat of the moment and in retrospect.
Let’s take them in chronological order.
The first came in the fifth inning, with the Giants following the Philadelphia Phillies 4-0. It came from Buster Posey and it was just a solo shot. A solo shot doesn’t do as much to eliminate a 4-0 lead – a four-run deficit doesn’t feel much bigger than a three-run deficit.
But it broke the ice for the Giants, and even if you didn’t expect them to handle nine more races, it suddenly felt possible. You quickly remembered that Duane Kuiper and Javier López were telling you a few minutes before that Philly is a place where a four-run lead is not safe.
They only needed to get the first run to break the ice, you told yourself.
They got the first run. Buster took their first run.
Appropriately, the next race came later in the same half, this time with a two-race jack, thanks to Tommy La Stella. Suddenly, the 4-0 deficit turned into a 4-3 deficit, and the game was right there for the Giants to take.
However, the giants did not take the game. At least not immediately. They continued to give back everything La Stella had worked so hard to acquire.
Which brings us to the home run no. 3. It’s the sixth half and the Giants trail 6-3, and Posey returns to the batter’s box.
There was a time when a starting player was not allowed to face Gerald for the third time when Posey had already released one of them. It’s not that moment anymore, but Posey fights like hell to bring back the past.
A solo bomb shot the Giants within two and reminded you that this team can take not only a fist, but also some of them.
It was Posey’s first two-homer game in five seasons. I like this development.
That 6-4 deficit lasted until the eighth half, where things became really interesting. The giants started a rally, thanks to a double by Evan Longoria and a walk drawn by Brandon Belt. He may have found you looking for a single one that would halve the deficit and give you hope to get into the ninth inning.
Alex Dickerson made you a better one, with the Giants the fourth homer of the night and … WHW. I could do that completely. Entirely.
That gave the Giants the lead, but with Citizens Bank Park playing like a Top Shot course, he didn’t feel completely safe.
So the Giants came together again, courtesy of Posey (a single in the field!) And Brandon Crawford, and Wilmer Flores stepped in and used his hitting duties as a prime opportunity to put a bow on the Dinger quintet. Giants.
Five home runs, representing all the Giants races in their 10-7 victory. Five runs at home, all of which looked like big leagues stopped by the intramural softball game to show off.
And a victory that came from the incessant demolition of a big deficit, until that big deficit was a small one, until that small deficit was a small advantage, until that small advantage was a comfortable one.
Some notes:
- Logan Webb does not appear to be gaining a spot in the starting rotation any time soon, and will continue to play the role of spot starter when someone is injured, which, given the Giants’ record, could mean he leads the team in you start. Webb allowed 7 shots, 2 walks and 4 runs won in 4 innings, while he broke 4. The Giants are already missing Johnny Cueto, but if they can win the games when he is replaced, he will go a long way towards a winning record.
- Posey has 4 home runs in 42 plate appearances. In 2018 and 2019, he had 12 actions in 893 appearances on the set.
- Jake McGee has returned to his list of injured after his short vaccination period. He gave up a run (thanks again for the insurance, Flores), but beat the strike zone. Tyler Rogers launched another perfect eighth to reduce his ERA to 0.77.
- The Giants have now won two of their four road series this season and have guaranteed to have at least a .500 record in their first road games. They are 11-6 years old and it is a pretty pleasant record from an aesthetic point of view.