SAN FRANCISCO — Big league clubhouses resemble Grand Central Station as the All-Star break begins, with players dressing and bolting as quickly as possible to catch flights home for a few days. Winning that final game makes for a nicer trip.
The Giants blew out of Oracle Park after a 9-5 victory against the Brewers that not only ended a satisfying 7-2 stretch to end the half, but also provided a blueprint for how this up-and-down team must play consistently to make a serious playoff run.
They hit balls out of the yard, scored scads of runs with two-out hits, played relatively good defense and got another standout start.
LaMonte Wade Jr.’s three-run homer reached McCovey Cove, Brandon Belt hit a two-run homer and Logan Webb held Milwaukee to two runs over six-plus innings to guide the Giants to their series-clinching win over the National League Central leaders and a 48-43 record into the break.
That might not be the record the Giants hoped to have, but it’s not bad considering how close they came to .500 just 10 days earlier. It also leaves them tied with the Phillies in the loss column for the third and final NL Wild Card spot.
“I think it was important for us to get going before the All-Star break and carry some of those good vibes and momentum into the break so we can come out the other side feeling good and ready to go,” Belt said. “We know what we’re capable of doing. It’s definitely a big boost of confidence for us.”
Said manager Gabe Kapler, “We feel good about the way we finished. Obviously, that was against a high-quality Brewers team with excellent starting pitching.”
The Giants understand the issues that leave them 10 wins worse than their 91-game total last year will not magically disappear with three days off. They particularly need to continue what has been a slight defensive improvement.
Kapler was honest about it, acknowledging the defense was better during the 7-2 run but “wasn’t perfect by any stretch.”
Other factors that guide wins and losses seem to warrant some optimism.
The Giants will start the second half in Los Angeles on Thursday relatively healthy. Brandon Crawford is on the injured list with a left knee issue, but otherwise the team’s core is ready to go. That includes Belt, whose right knee has improved enough that he is expected to play first base again at Dodger Stadium.
The rotation has been solid and ended the half on a nice run. Webb’s six-plus innings Sunday yielded two earned runs and left him with a 1.37 ERA over his past seven starts and 2.83 for the season to complement a 9-3 record.
Meanwhile, the offense provided a rare clinic on clutch hitting.
The Giants scored their first run with one out in the first inning on a Wilmer Flores sacrifice fly that cashed in Austin Slater’s leadoff double and a wild pitch by Brewers opener Aaron Ashby.
But five of the next six Giants runs scored on two-out hits, starting with Belt’s broken-bat single in the second. That scored Mike Yastrzemski, who hit a leadoff double and continued to third on a Jonathan Davis bobble.
The Giants’ five-run third against bulk pitcher Jason Alexander started with singles by Flores and Evan Longoria, followed by All-Star Joc Pederson’s RBI double off the right-field wall.
The Giants had two runners in scoring position with nobody out yet needed Joey Bart’s surprisingly quick legs to turn a small rally into a whopper.
After Thairo Estrada and Yastrzemski each hit grounders that failed to drive in a run, Bart legged out a single on a left-side dribbler to score Longoria for a 4-1 lead. With the inning extended, Wade sent a 1-1 Alexander slider into McCovey Cove.
The three-run homer was the Giants’ 95th Splash Hit and Wade’s third.
The Giants extended their lead to 9-1 on Belt’s two-run homer in the sixth off Alexander before a rusty Jakob Junis allowed three of the four final Milwaukee runs in his first appearance off the IL.
Some teams might want to keep playing after a run like the Giants have enjoyed, but they really need the three days off to get healthy. Webb — bound for Lake Tahoe instead of the All-Star Game — said this break is especially welcome given the nature of the club’s season thus far.
“The first half had some really big highs and really big lows,” Webb said. “I think a little bit of a mental break and a little bit of a physical break can help with something like that. I don’t think us having a break will stop us from the feeling that we’ve had on the field the last week or so. I think it will be nice.”
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