Giants continue to beat more successful teams with 6-3 win in Arizona

The 2024 San Francisco Giants are hitting their stride at exactly the wrong time. All it took was a playoff elimination for the guys in orange and black to go on a rampage against teams heading to the postseason.

That continued on Monday night in Phoenix, as the Giants extended their winning streak to four games with a 6-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. After sweeping the likely wild-card qualifier Kansas City Royals and winning two of three games against the leading Baltimore Orioles, they won the opening game of a three-game series against the D-backs, who are just in time to clinch the last wild-card spot in the National League. The Giants have stormed to 78-79, and a season win is now improbably within reach.

It was a combination of power hits, solid starting pitching and shutdown bullpen work again Monday, fueled by the irresistible feeling of ruining another team’s series. To paraphrase Alfred Pennyworth, some men want to make the playoffs, and some just want to watch the world burn. The Giants are burning down the forest surrounding the playoff contenders. Frankly, I haven’t seen anyone so focused on playing spoilsport since an AC Transit driver in Berkeley yelled to a bus full of passengers in “The Sixth Sense” that Bruce Willis was dead all along.

Matt Chapman showed power and skill with a two-run inside-the-park home run and an RBI triple, both of which sent Arizona center fielder Jake McCarthy crashing into the walls. He is the first Giant in 71 years to hit a triple and an inside-the-park home run, when Hall of Famer Monte Irvin did it in 1953.

Since returning from the paternity list on Saturday, Chapman has the strength of a grown man and a little baby. He’s hit 4 for 11 at bats, with three home runs and a triple. That’s a 1.364 batting average, with five RBIs. Chapman also caught a 106 mph shot from Christian Walker and threw him out in the bottom of the 7th inning.

Hayden Birdsong got off to another solid start, striking out six and allowing two runs in five innings for his fifth win. Meanwhile, the Giants made life difficult for starter Eduardo Rodriguez, allowing three home runs, five runs and ten baserunners in 4.2 innings.

If you like a wide variety of styles in your home runs, the Giants delivered a veritable Kellogg’s selection of home runs. In the third inning, Chapman put the Giants ahead and delivered one of the most exciting plays of the entire season. After Jerar Encarnacion brought Heliot Ramos home with a double to tie the game, the Giants’ 2024 MVP hit a drive into the deepest part of Chase Field. He narrowly missed a home run when the ball hit just short of the 413-foot wall. But he didn’t make it.

McCarthy hit the wall trying to contain the hit and the ball bounced into right-center field, with left fielder Pavin Smith sprinting after it. Chappie hit the nitro button at third base and just managed to beat the throw to the wall, becoming the first Giant since Denard Span to hit an inside-the-parker.

In the 4th inning, Casey Schmitt hit a home run in about 3% of the time it took Chapman to do it. He hit an 89 mph fastball and slammed it down the left field line with an exit velocity of 109.7 mph. If you look closely at the video, you can see the baseball let out a very faint scream as it leaves the stadium.

NBCS’ tweet spoke of “hammered” material, but also said “by force,” “herded into a heap,” and “carried out at short notice without legal counsel” all worked.

For viewers who prefer massive Ruthian explosions, best viewed via NASA’s Space Surveillance Network, Michael Conforto delivered a 430-foot mortar shot in the fifth inning that offered in-flight food and drink service.

That was Chapman’s 27th home run, giving him a chance to tie Brandon Belt for the highest home run total since Barry Bonds (29). Conforto hit No. 19 this season, while Schmitt hit No. 6.

Four relievers scored the win for the Giants: Spencer Bivens, Erik Miller, Camilo Doval and Ryan Walker held Arizona to one run in four innings and struck out five players. Miller allowed a run in the 7th inning on a Jose Herrera double and a Geraldo Perdomo RBI single, ending a nearly 12-inning scoreless streak for the Giants bullpen.

Doval may be a slider-only pitcher, but that slider helped him in the eighth inning when he struck out pinch-hitter Ketel Marte with a dirty slider when there was a man on second base. Tyler Fitzgerald did a great job in the ninth inning when he struck out speedy Corbin Carroll with a grounder hit straight up the middle before Walker picked up his 10th save by throwing up Perdomo.

The loss cut Arizona’s lead over the Atlanta Braves to 1.5 games. That means Arizona will continue to be a playoff team throughout the series, which should be motivation enough for the spoiler-obsessed Giants to pull off another sweep. The only thing better than making the playoffs is knocking your division rival out of the playoffs. It’s just a shame the St. Louis Cardinals are already out.