Daniel Robertson. Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
With only one-third of the season left and amid a six-game homestand that gives them a chance to grab control of a wild-card spot, the Giants have reached the downhill portion of their season.
If they want to continue play into October, they would need to continue to gather momentum and not tumble. Or at least, only tumble when diving for plays, which they did plenty of Sunday.
After suffering a heartbreaker Friday, the Giants have rebounded with a pair of wins against the Diamondbacks, the latest a 4-2 effort that was well-played and positions San Francisco to try to take the series 3-1 before a pair with the Mariners.
The Giants (20-21) are a game away from .500 and have won five of seven, playing better as the season has gone on and the weather has heated up. Good lord, has it heated up, as have the Giants’ gloves.
Johnny Cueto declined to go out to warm up with his teammates just before the start of a game that began on an 88-degree afternoon; the umpires were not yet on the field, and he was not going to waste an ounce of energy. When he did emerge, he was on the mound in front of Darin Ruf in left, Donovan Solano at second and Wilmer Flores at first, a few defensive red flags that instead led them to waving in celebration. And once Ruf was removed, Alex Dickerson made the play of the day in left.
The Giants’ hitting was powerful if not clutch, all their runs coming on long balls. Solano, who played an able second base, provided a two-run dinger in the sixth that put them over the top, Chadwick Tromp chipped in a homer and a sizzling Brandon Belt pinch-hit one off Yoan Lopez in the seventh to provide a cushion. Belt is now 27-for-55 (.490) with six homers and eight doubles in 19 games.
But their gloves were more impressive on a day Cueto was solid, but needed some help from his defense and Caleb Baragar, which he received.
Gabe Kapler allowed Cueto, at 103 pitches, to stay in with two outs and two on against Jake Lamb in the sixth, but pitch 109 walked the bases loaded. In came Baragar, who’s been the Giants’ fireman really all season. The lefty needed Ruf to help extinguish this jam, though, Jon Jay slapping a liner that the big left fielder charged in for, sliding his way to the catch that saved two runs.
Flores has often been a liability in the field, moving his way from third to second and now mostly an option at first. But he looked confident and solid in charging a safety squeeze off the bat of Tim Locastro in the fifth, getting a good break on it and then coming home with a strike to Tromp, who dove to tag out Nick Ahmed. Arizona then loaded the bases for David Peralta, who worked the count full with two outs, but Cueto delivered a perfect changeup that struck out him out, screaming in joy.
In all, the righty was not his best but was effective enough, going 5 2/3 innings with two runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out seven. His changeup was again his best pitch, and he provided decent length on a day the Giants needed it, their bullpen having thrown 6 1/3 innings Saturday.
Giants relievers (Baragar, Jarlin Garcia, Tony Watson and Tyler Rogers) got the job done with some help from Dickerson. In the eighth, Carson Kelly lined a ball to left that made Dickerson charge in and to his left before diving all-out. It looked like a trap, and Kelly would not leave first base even when it was originally ruled a catch — which was upheld, the ball somehow finding leather.
The Giants’ defense, so much a concern at the start of this season, has not been an issue for weeks. Which bodes well for a playoff hunt they are very much in the middle of.