SF Giants Press Clips Sunday, June 24, 2018

SFGate Celebrating Juan Marichal, who fell below Bartolo Colon in career wins John Shea

Wins are less and less relevant when judging a ’s value. have less control over wins and losses than ever because starters are pitching fewer than ever.

So wins aren’t as important even though the object is to win the game. It’s more about where a pitcher ranks in FIP, WHIP, WAR, BAA, K/BB and ERA+ — or any other pertinent acronym that suits your fancy.

That brings us to Bartolo Colon, who’s being celebrated for earning his 244th career win, a significant number because it’s one more than Juan Marichal and makes Colon the all-time winningest pitcher born in the Dominican Republic.

Good for Colon, the likable 45-year-old they call Big Sexy who’s a must-watch when he picks up a bat and has survived to a 21st big-league season. But the irrelevance of wins has never been more telling than when broaching the subject of Colon surpassing Marichal.

Marichal earned wins the old-fashioned way, by pitching complete games every four days and averaging 280 innings and 194 over an amazing 10-year span (1962-71) with the Giants, after which he fizzled . His final Marichal-like season came at age 34, and he threw his final pitch at 37.

Colon has had benefits not available to Marichal. Aside from working in an era with five-man rotations and carrying a heavy workload, Colon has taken advantage of medical advancements including Tommy John surgery and stem-cell therapy — along with performance-enhancing drugs, for which he was suspended — to prolong his career.

Of course, we’re not comparing the pitchers as much as the eras. There’s really no comparison when it comes to Marichal vs. Colon. One had a 2.89 ERA and would have been a first-ballot Hall of Famer if he hadn’t taken a bat to John Roseboro’s head. The other has a 4.07 ERA and won his 244th game by yielding three runs in six innings, a start that would have made Marichal lose sleep.

Digging deeper into Marichal’s career is a fascinating journey. In fact, my favorite all-time stat is Marichal had more complete games than wins. He had 30 alone in 1968, seven fewer than Colon has had in his career. That year, Marichal had 19 straight starts of nine innings or more, two lasting 11 and another 10, a span in which he posted a 1.43 ERA.

Let’s not forget the 16- win in 1963 in which he threw 227 pitches. Not only did he have the most wins in the ’60s (there’s that stat again) but the most complete games, though he pitched in the shadow of Sandy Koufax and , who made 15 combined World starts in the decade and won five Cy Young Awards.

Marichal is the best pitcher never to win the Cy Young (since its 1956 inception). In fact, he never got a vote in the ’60s. The process was different back then. Only one pitcher in the majors won the award through 1966, before each league had a winner beginning in 1967, and writers in the ’60s voted for just one person. There were no votes for second place, third place, etc.

It’s fine to celebrate Colon, but let’s also acknowledge Marichal as a one-of-a-kind pitcher who might have pitched in other legends’ shadows but was no less of a pitcher and competitor. Meantime, Colon’s next step is surpassing Dennis Martinez’s 245 wins and becoming the winningest Latin American pitcher. Martinez is from Nicaragua.

SFGate Giants get three extra-base hits from slumping Crawford, beat Padres Henry Schulman

Some days it can be Gorkys Hernandez and , other days Alen Hanson and Pablo Sandoval. On Saturday it was mostly .

The 2018 Giants have not been an offensive force. Usually their production comes from one or two players who get hot. If their pitchers do a decent enough job, they can shake hands as they did after they beat the Padres 5-3 at AT&T Park.

One wonders how high the Giants’ ceiling could be if they got consistent offense from, say, three or four players over an extended stretch.

Maybe then they could break the bonds of .500, where they reside again after improving to 4-2 on their 10-game homestand.

Their big hits Saturday came from a player who was riding an 0-for-10 when he went home Monday for the birth of his fourth child, then added an 0-for-8 when he returned from paternity leave Thursday night.

He broke out of the 0-for-18 in a big way on a warm, strange afternoon in which the Giants didn’t learn Jordan Lyles would not start for San Diego until the game had begun.

Crawford ended his hitless streak and tied a 1-0 game in the fourth inning with an RBI off the bricks in right against Matt Strahm, who started instead. Crawford untied it in the sixth with a two-run off right-handed sidewinder Adam Cimber.

Crawford’s third extra-base , an eighth-inning double, led to a run on a by just-promoted .

Crawford had sensed some hits coming.

“I did feel I was seeing the ball well, even if it didn’t look like it,” he said. “The timing might have been off a little bit. It was just a matter of getting some balls up, finding holes and hitting them to spots where they couldn’t them.”

Crawford contributed a difficult defensive play in a big spot, too, after ’s leadoff in the fifth against Andrew Suarez.

With one out, Margot attempted to steal second. Nick Hundley, who is having a rough go with his throwing, fired one wide right. Crawford had to race past second base just to catch the ball and prevent it from going into the , but he did more than that.

With his momentum still carrying him toward first base, Crawford dropped a tag on Margot for the out. A.J. Ellis then singled, but Suarez struck out pinch-hitter Matt Szczur to end the inning.

Crawford’s contributions on both sides are not surprising to longtime Giants. Nor is his work ethic, which Andrew McCutchen chose to highlight when asked what he has learned about Crawford the teammate.

“Watching him work on his craft is pretty special,” McCutchen said.

The Giants won despite a lineup that was geared toward the righty Lyles but had to face the lefty Strahm when Lyles was scratched with forearm tightness.

Hanson would have been on the bench had the Giants known they were facing a left- hander, but the Giants were fortunate to have him. He started the go-ahead rally with a speed-fueled hit. Belt then singled ahead of Crawford’s two-run double.

Online conspiracy theories abounded that Padres manager Andy Green pulled a fast one on the Giants by switching a lefty for a righty with no notice. Manager Bruce Bochy chose to take Green at his word that the decision came after Lyles warmed up and felt the tightness.

“The lineup card was in,” Bochy said. “You don’t want to challenge someone’s integrity. Way back in baseball (the switcheroo) was done quite a bit. They said he got hurt warming up. There’s nothing you could do.”

San Jose Mercury News Crawford delivers another stellar performance, lifts Giants past Padres Kerry Crowley

SAN FRANCISCO–His average had dipped more than 30 points in just two weeks.

Contact that was so solid for more than a month was suddenly weak. Swings that looked so fluid started to look out of whack.

But All-Stars make adjustments, and this season, Brandon Crawford is poised to start the All-Star Game.

With three extra base hits, a walk, three RBIs and one tremendous play at shortstop, Crawford snapped an 0-for-18 stretch at the plate and lifted the Giants past the Padres in a 5-3 win.

“Even though I may not have looked good at times, I did feel like I was seeing the ball well and my timing was just a little bit off,” Crawford said. “It was just a matter of squaring the ball up. Finding a hole. Hitting it to a spot where they couldn’t catch it.”

The ’s leading All-Star vote-getter at shortstop, Crawford is well on his way to locking up a starting role in the showcase of baseball’s best talent.

Despite a rough ninth inning that included a throwing for Crawford, his impressive day at the plate helped the Giants climb back to .500 and earn a shot to clinch a series victory over San Diego on Sunday.

“Today he found it,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “What a great game and we needed it. We needed somebody to come through. Their guy was throwing well and he got three big hits there. He’s just a good hitter.”

With right-hander Jordan Lyles slated to start for the Padres, Bochy included every left-handed position player on his roster on the lineup card he turned in prior to the game.

After the Giants optioned Mac Williamson to Triple-A Sacramento following Friday’s game, switch-hitter Alen Hanson started in left field while all four infielders including switch-hitting third baseman Pablo Sandoval were geared up to hit from the left-handed batter’s box.

However, Lyles experienced right forearm tightness during his pregame session, forcing Padres skipper Andy Green to send Matt Strahm down to the bullpen in the top of the first inning. Strahm has prior experience as a starter, but the decision to insert him in Lyles’ place was an easy choice for Green considering Strahm could neutralize the Giants’ left-handed hitters.

The Giants failed to challenge Strahm until the bottom of the fourth, when the left- hander issued a leadoff walk to Andrew McCutchen. After Brandon Belt flew out to right field, Crawford stepped to the plate and smashed a line drive high off the brick wall in right field.

“He’s been pretty consistent with everything, just his routine and how he prepares every single day,” McCutchen said of Crawford. “He does his stuff the right way, he does it and people only see what he does on the field, but that doesn’t come overnight. That comes with a lot of work.”

Crawford’s hit caromed into right center field and allowed him to reach third with his second triple of the season. The RBI knotted the score at 1-1, but a Pablo Sandoval popup and prevented San Francisco from taking the lead.

The shortstop returned to the field in the top of the fifth inning and saved a run for the Giants on a steal attempt from Padres center fielder Manuel Margot. With Margot jetting toward second, Crawford raced across the diamond and caught a throw from Nick Hundley on the right side of the base. He snagged the tailing throw and slapped a tag down on Margot in one fluid motion, robbing the Padres of a chance to score when A.J. Ellis delivered a two-out single through the left side of the infield.

“Initially I’m just trying to go get it,” Crawford said. “Then as the throw is coming in, you time it up to where I could tag him.”

San Diego tagged Giants starter Andrew Suárez for a run in the top of the fourth on a solo right fielder Hunter Renfroe deposited into the first row of the left field bleachers, but that was the only damage the Padres did against the Giants rookie.

Suárez lasted 5 2/3 innings and notched four strikeouts Saturday, feeding off the help the Giants defense provided him as the southpaw induced three double plays for the first time in his career.

“I didn’t have my today or my glove side and we just went with and ,” Suárez said. “We got some big balls and the defense made great plays as well.”

After allowing a pair of two-out singles in the sixth, Suárez was lifted in favor of , who escaped a jam and earned a win after Tony Watson bridged the gap to closer Sam Dyson. Moronta entered with the score tied 1-1 and left with the lead after Hanson led off the bottom of the sixth with an infield single. The speedy utility player dove headfirst into first base to beat a throw from , setting the stage for the Giants’ two-run rally.

Crawford missed the first three games of the Giants homestand, as he was placed on the paternity list and celebrated the arrival of his fourth child, Bryson. Though it took a few days for Crawford to regain his form at the plate, he broke a 3-for-34 stretch with three extra base hits Saturday, including an eighth inning double that led to a run on an Austin Slater sacrifice fly.

“I was hoping I would just break right out when I came back,” Crawford said. “But like I said, I think my timing was just a little bit off and I felt a lot better today.”

SFGiants.com Crawford continues All-Star push in Giants’ win Chris Haft

SAN FRANCISCO -- Given Brandon Crawford's productivity thus far, it could safely be assumed that the 0-for-18 skid he took into Saturday's game against the wouldn't last much longer. It didn't.

Crawford turned the third-longest hitless streak of his career into a mere memory as he went 3-for-3 with three RBIs in the Giants' 5-3 triumph over the San Diego Padres.

Crawford tripled home Andrew McCutchen in the fourth inning to open the Giants' scoring before doubling home Alen Hanson and Brandon Belt in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie.

"I felt like I was seeing the ball well," Crawford said. "My timing might have been just a little bit off. It was a matter of finding a hole, hitting it to a spot where they couldn't catch it."

Crawford also doubled and scored in the eighth to help cement the Giants' fourth victory in five games.

That late run proved crucial, since Crawford, winner of the National League's last three Gold Glove Awards at shortstop, committed a ninth-inning throwing error that enabled the Padres to bring the potential tying run to the plate.

Crawford raised his average to .313, top among the Giants. He also hiked his RBI total to 35, matching Belt's team-high figure.

Any difficulties Crawford might have endured at the plate would be understandable. He began this week with a three-day paternity leave to be present as his wife, Jalynne, gave birth last Monday to a son, Bryson.

Complementing the Giants' offense was starter Andrew Suarez, who yielded eight hits but just one run in 5 2/3 innings. Suarez escaped the trouble he caused for himself by coaxing three double-play grounders in the first four innings. Suarez survived despite lacking command of his slider, which is one of the most essential pitches in his repertoire.

"I kept trying to throw it, but it wasn't there today," Suarez said. "So we junked it."

Relying instead on his sinker and changeup, the rookie left-hander walked one and struck out four.

Tension elevated in the eighth inning when Padres right-hander Phil Maton fired a at McCutchen, then hit him with the next delivery. McCutchen jawed briefly at Maton and shot the reliever a glance en route to first base. But tempers did not escalate.

"Obviously I had no reason to throw at him," Maton said. "I've been on rehab for a month. Executing that up-and-in fastball to a good hitter, I missed my spot. I don't know what else to say about it. He can react how he wants. I wouldn't be happy if I got hit either. But I'm not going to say I'm at my sharpest right now."

"Everybody's entitled to having an off-day," said a becalmed McCutchen after the game. "He's having a good year; he has pretty good numbers [1.53 ERA]. They show that everybody has an off-day, I guess, and I just happened to be the guy he had an off-day against."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Outfielder Austin Slater, freshly recalled from Triple-A Sacramento, contributed immediately by sending home Crawford with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly. The Giants expect production at the plate from Slater, who's 3-for-11 during his brief stints in the Majors this year after he hit .282 in 34 games with San Francisco last year

The Athletic Brandon Crawford has an All-Star afternoon, but Giants get more beyond their core to beat Padres Andrew Baggarly

On the third day of summer, let’s talk about snowballs. Every successful baseball season resembles one in some respect or another. You don’t just gather momentum as you travel down the slope. You gather mass and material. The Giants bet on their core players when they sought to retool a team that lost 98 games last season, and one of their stars took over in a 5-3 victory over the San Diego Padres on a warm Saturday afternoon at AT&T Park. Brandon Crawford tripled off the arcade in right field against a left-hander. He doubled to the left- center gap against a right-hander. The first hit tied the game in the fourth inning. The next one drove in two more runs in the sixth and put the Giants ahead. He hustled out another double in the eighth, too. Along with those three extra-base hits that snapped an 0-for-18 streak, he assisted on three of the four double-play grounders that Giants pitchers were able to generate. He extended himself to make a rather Baezian tag at second base on a wide throw from Nick Hundley. He fielded a two-seam throw at his ankles from Tony Watson. (OK, OK, so the ninth inning strays from this narrative a bit. That’s when Crawford couldn’t haul in a sun ball and then skipped a throw past Brandon Belt for a two-run error after he made a barehand pickup of a broken-bat dribbler. Hey, nobody’s perfect. And because Sam Dyson got the next batter to ground out to Belt to end the game, none of that mattered.) Crawford went beyond making a contribution. He made an impact, and he has played enough of these games this season to book nonrefundable airfare to Washington, D.C., for the All-Star game. “I got three days off for Bryson,” said Crawford, who missed last week’s series against the Marlins for the birth of his son. “I’ll take that as the little break if I go to the All-Star Game.” The Giants bet on Crawford having games like this. They bet on Belt and having games like this. But every core needs a thicker contributing cast. Every successful team needs to scoop up a surprising player or three along the way. And there was a lot more going on than Crawford in Saturday’s victory. The Giants rolled back to .500, and they’ve gathered some interesting material in the process of reaching a 39-39 record. — Left-hander Andrew Suárez continues to show that he can be a credible member of the rotation even after Jeff Samardzija returns in a week. (Samardzija will make one more rehab start for Triple-A Sacramento, by the way — on Tuesday at Albuquerque, in which he will target 90 pitches.) Suárez couldn’t keep his slider down and had no glove-side command of his 92-93 mph fastball, but the rookie found other ways to pitch to contact. He used his changeup and two-seamer to get within one out of a quality start, having allowed just a solo homer to Hunter Renfroe. Other young pitchers would nibble in fear. Suárez defaults to something else. He became the first Giants pitcher to begin his career with 12 starts of two walks or fewer since 1913. “I’m just starting to get a feel for everything here,” Suárez said. “It’s getting more normal for me.” As Eno Sarris noted in a recent fantasy baseball column, no pitcher in the big leagues has added more velocity this season than Suárez has. “His has gotten better, his changeup,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’ll throw the slower breaking ball. He does a good job holding runners and he does the little things.” Bochy stifled a smile. “I won’t mention the hitting, but he almost got a hit today,” the manager said. “So that’s getting better, too.” — Emerging utilityman Alen Hanson continues to make things happen. He started in left field because the Padres were sending right-hander Jordan Lyles to the mound, and as Bochy said of Hanson, “You look at his OPS against right-handers and you’ve got to find a way to get him in there.” The Giants’ plans got turned around in the top of the first inning, when Padres left- hander Matt Strahm surprisingly started warming up in the bullpen. It turned out that Lyles felt forearm tightness while warming up, and a lineup constructed for a right-hander drew a lefty, instead. Strahm had made four starts earlier this season as the Padres joined the Tampa Bay Rays in dabbling with the “reliever starter” experiment. Bochy offered a candid acknowledgment when asked whether subterfuge on the part of Padres manager Andy Green had crossed his mind. “Well, you don’t know,” Bochy said. “I guess I don’t want to challenge somebody’s integrity. I know way back in baseball, that happened quite a bit. He got hurt warming up. What can you do? “By then your lineup card is up. It’s been constructed. There’s nothing you can do.” Hanson struck out twice against Strahm. But when he faced right-hander Adam Cimber in the sixth inning, the 25-year-old made something happen. He used his speed to beat out a routine-looking grounder to first base, then stole second base before scoring the tiebreaking run on Crawford’s double. The Giants thought enough of Hanson’s defense that Bochy didn’t hesitate to move him to second base on a double-switch in the seventh, replacing Joe Panik, a former Gold Glove winner. Hanson will continue to mix in starts against right-handers and some might come in left field, even though the Giants optioned Mac Williamson to Sacramento and called up Austin Slater earlier in the day. Nobody in the Giants clubhouse can appreciate Hanson’s growth as a player more than Andrew McCutchen, who knew him as a 4-A guy with the Pirates before Hanson used up the last of his options and ended up off the roster. “With the Pirates, he’d be a handsy guy, hit to the opposite field,” McCutchen said. “He got here and it was, ‘I’m better than that.’ ” McCutchen said he and David Freese would watch Hanson take batting practice and wonder what kind of player they were watching. “Me and Freese always joked around: Man, is it me or can he swing it?” McCutchen said. “It’s great to see what he’s been capable of doing since he’s been here. He’s a totally different guy from with the Pirates. He’s been showing he can hit the ball with authority, get a clutch hit when we need them. Just look at the numbers. He’s a totally different guy. It’s like he showed up here and that’s the best thing that could happen to him. He comes here and nobody really knows him. He’s just, ‘Do what I do. I know I can hit it with authority. I know I can pull the ball.’ ” — Center fielder Gorkys Hernández is not cratering as the Giants push him into everyday playing time. He hit an RBI double, made a catch on the and his running grab in the sixth of a line drive helped Reyes Moronta strand both of Suárez’s runners. So many times when a player emerges in his 30s like Hernández does, his performance eventually levels off and he wears down. We’ve reached the point where you might expect to see that happening. So far, it hasn’t. Perhaps that’s why Bochy appeared a bit startled when asked whether there has been any talk of promoting from Sacramento. “I’m not saying no, but that has not been talked about,” Bochy said. — Dyson and Pablo Sandoval, found material from last year’s otherwise lost season, continue to make contributions. Dereck Rodriguez appears to be a nice pitching depth piece. Moronta received the victory in relief and has a 1.85 ERA. Hundley is doing enough with the bat to allow Bochy to give Posey the rest he needs. Hundley is also in tremendous mental and physical shape. How many 34-year-old catchers score from first base on a double without drawing a throw to the plate? This team is missing big pieces like Samardzija, and . But up and down the roster, you’ll find productive players. There aren’t many liabilities. That brings us to Hunter Pence and Austin Jackson. It was the right move to send down Williamson to give Slater a chance to contribute. Slater was hitting at Sacramento, and Williamson was struggling here. The Giants saw what kind of impact Williamson can make when he has his timing and confidence. He needs to play every day, and he’ll get that chance with the River Cats. So, yes, Pence and Jackson remain a part of this team. And yes, Bochy will look for opportunities to involve them as more than pinch hitters. “These guys have had success in the major leagues,” Bochy said. “It could be a game or two and something clicks. You don’t ever forget the history of the player or the heart they have. I can tell you nobody’s working harder than AJax and Hunter. It’d be different if that weren’t the case.” Pence entered on a in the seventh and Bochy plans to start him on Sunday. Objectively, this appears to be a poor strategy. Then again, who remembers June/July of 2010, when Edgar Renteria appeared done after so many leaden swings and grounders to short? And who remembers who left tear tracks on the World Series MVP trophy that October? After watching Renteria and Travis Ishikawa and Barry Zito and and a struggling Tim Lincecum dominating in relief and all the other redemptive threads in this franchise’s tapestry over this glorious decade, wouldn’t Pence finding a way to become an October hero be cut straight out of the Giants’ pattern? You have to do the right thing and play the most productive players, and against right-handers, that should mean more opportunities for Hanson. It also means that Slater should get a chance to contribute and expand his role. But you also don’t cut loose players before you have to, especially ones who have had success in the big leagues and continue to approach each day as professionals. You don’t jettison material while you’re trying to gain momentum. That is not how snowballs work.

NBA Sports Bay Area Crawford does the heavy lifting, and the little things, in Giants win Alex Pavlovic

SAN FRANCISCO — Quietly, Brandon Crawford spent much of his day saving teammates.

When Nick Hundley’s throw down to second in the fifth inning drifted, Crawford deftly moved a few feet off the bag, grabbed the ball and placed a nifty tag down on Manuel Margot to erase a runner in . In the seventh, Pablo Sandoval had trouble finding a two-out pop-up into the midday sun. Crawford, his glove shielding his eyes, kept creeping and creeping until he was standing in Sandoval’s place at third, and he gloved the ball to end the inning. An inning later, Tony Watson got what looked like a double-play ball back to the mound, but his throw to second was low. Crawford did well to scoop it, getting the lead runner out on a .

Then there were the contributions that were impossible to miss.

Crawford broke an 0-for-18 mini-skid with a scorched triple off the wall in the fourth inning. That brought Andrew McCutchen home with the game-tying run. Two innings later, the likely All-Star starter went the opposite way for a two-run double that would hold up in a 5-3 win over San Diego.

On many days, Crawford might weigh the offensive and defensive contributions equally. But when you’re riding a mini …

“I always want to make plays out there for sure, but when you’re 0-for…I don’t even know, I’m not going to lie, the triple and doubles felt better today,” he said, smiling.

They were sorely needed, too. The Giants were caught off-guard when Jordan Lyles was a late scratch with elbow tightness, and they struggled against hard-throwing lefty Matt Strahm until Crawford broke through. He said he had seen signs in recent days that his swing from May and early June was returning.

“You just know him. You know it’s a matter of time,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “What a great game, and we needed it. We needed someone to come through. This guy was throwing well…when you’re in a game like this you need someone to deliver and Craw did it.”

The contributions backed Andrew Suarez, who continues to get better and better and show signs of his maturity on the mound. Suarez discovered early that his slider had abandoned him, so he teamed up with catcher Nick Hundley to go sinker- changeup heavy. That led to three double plays in the first four innings.

Crawford was in the middle of those, and so much that went right on this day. But he’s a bit of a perfectionist, and the ending of this one stuck with him. Crawford was one of three Giants who couldn’t get under a high pop-up to center in the ninth that dropped for a sun-aided double. His throwing error on a tough roller led to some anxiety as the Padres tried to come back.

“It’s frustrating, I’m not going to lie,” he said. “I’ve always said I try to not take at- bats to defense of defense to at-bats. I try to separate things. Obviously I want to go 3-for-3 any day but I wanted to make those plays.”

They were minor blips on a day that otherwise showed all the reasons why Crawford very likely will be starting for the National League All-Star team next month, and they won’t cost him any sleep. Not during a week when his wife gave birth to the couple’s fourth child, a second Crawford son.

“A little tiring for a couple of days,” Crawford said of his week, “But they’re still in Arizona, so I’m getting good sleep right now.”

Santa Rosa Press Democrat Giants top Padres 5-3 Grant Cohn

SAN FRANCISCO — It wasn’t just the hits. It was how and where he hit them.

Brandon Crawford was the batter. His first hit came in the bottom of the fourth inning, during the Giants’ 5-3 win against the San Diego Padres. The Giants were losing 1-0 at the time, and the Padres’ left-handed starting pitcher, Matt Strahm, was cruising. He had given up just one hit among the first 13 batters he faced. And now, it was the bottom of the fourth and Andrew McCutchen on first base with one out.

The Giants weren’t prepared to face Strahm. He was a last-minute replacement for Padres right-handed starter Jordan Lyles, who felt forearm soreness before the game.

The Padres put Lyles in their lineup card anyway, but he never pitched. Strahm started warming up in the bullpen during the top of the first inning when the Giants were on the field and starting pitcher Andrew Suarez was on the mound. He would go 5⅔ innings, giving up just one run. But ultimately, Reyes Moronta got the win.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy saw Strahm warming up, but couldn’t do anything about it. It was too late to change the lineup. Bochy already had put all his left- handed and switch hitters in his lineup, and kept four righties on the bench, including Buster Posey, who had the day off.

Bochy needed one of his left-handed batters to get a big hit.

Crawford hadn’t had any hits, big or small, recently. He was 0 for his last 18 coming into Saturday’s game. “Even though it may not have looked like it at times, I did feel like I was seeing the ball well,” Crawford said. “It was just a matter of squaring the ball up, finding a hole, hitting it to a spot where they couldn’t catch it.”

After missing three games due to the birth of his son, Crawford said he lost his timing at the plate. “Today, he found it,” Bochy said. “We needed it. We needed somebody to come through.”

Strahm threw a four-seam fastball high and tight to Crawford, who drove the ball deep to right field. “I knew he hit it good,” said McCutchen, who had a view from first base. “I didn’t know if he hit it far enough, so I was watching the outfielder, seeing what he was doing.”

When Padres right fielder Hunter Renfroe turned his back to the infield to play the ball off the wall, McCutchen started running. The ball ricocheted off the top of the brick arcade in right field, away from Renfroe and toward center field. Renfroe chased the ball like a child desperately pursuing a toy that’s about to roll into the street.

McCutchen scored from first and Crawford dove safely into third base. An RBI triple. The Giants and Padres were tied at one. Crawford came to the plate again in the bottom of the sixth, with Alen Hanson at second base and Brandon Belt at first. This time, the Padres pitcher was right- handed submariner Adam Cimber.

On an 0-2 , Cimber threw a fastball high and away, his knuckles almost scraping the dirt on the mound. Crawford recognized the location of the pitch, kept his weight back and drove the ball to the opposite field.

San Francisco Examiner Brandon Crawford gets All-Star campaign back on track in Giants win Stan Olszewski

AT&T PARK — As shortstop Brandon Crawford left town for the birth of his second son, Bryson, last week, he was in the throes an 0-for-10 slump. “I was hoping I would just break right out of it when I got back, but I think my timing was just a little bit off,” Crawford said.

Coming out of his three-day paternity leave, Crawford went 0-for-8 in his first two games, but both he and manager Bruce Bochy felt he was right on the cusp of regaining the form that had him atop the National League shortstop All-Star voting rolls.

Crawford got his All-Star campaign firmly back on track on Saturday against the San Diego Padres, busting out of a 3-for-34 funk by going 3-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored in a 5-3 Giants win.

“You know it’s a matter of time,” Bochy said. “You miss three days, I’m sure his timing was a little bit off, needed some at-bats, and today, he found it.”

Bryson’s birth and his dad’s All-Star-worthy performance over the last 45 days — a .367 batting average, six home runs, 16 doubles and 29 RBIs — have served as a stark contrast to Crawford’s life a year ago.

During the 2017 season, his wife suffered two miscarriages, and his sister-in-law Jennifer Pippin passed away suddenly. Adding to that, Crawford hit a career-worst .253.

To start the 2018 season, Crawford didn’t look much better. He hit .189 in April, with just five extra-base hits. Then, a two-inch adjustment in his hands had him hitting .412 in the month of May, and over the first seven games of June, he hit .480. Coming coming into Saturday, though, Crawford had just three hits in his last 34 at- bats.

Following his second-inning walk against the Padres, Crawford broke in the bottom of the by bashing a one-out game-tying RBI triple off the brick arcade in right off of emergency Padres starter Matt Strahm.

It was one of only two hits allowed by the left-handed Strahm, who started warming up in the top of the first after Padres scheduled starter Jordan Lyles (a righty) was scratched after lineups were exchanged with right firearm tightness. Strahm struck out five in the first three innings, before Crawford chased him in the fourth.

“He was pumping 95 and had good rising life on the fastball,” Bochy said of Strahm. “We needed somebody to come through. When you’re in a game like this, you need somebody to deliver, and Craw did it today.”

In the top of the fifth, Crawford turned in some standout glovework on a day where he turned three of San Francisco’s four double plays. He caught a wide-right Nick Hundley throw down to second and tagged a stealing Manuel Margot in one motion for the second out of the inning while on a dead sprint.

“Initially, I’m just trying to go get it,” Crawford said. “As the throw is coming, I kind of timed it up so where I could tag him at the same time as I catch it.”

Giants starter Andrew Suarez allowed one run (a Hunter Renfroe homer) through his first five innings, but after a pair of two-out singles in the top of the sixth, he gave way to Reyes Moronta. San Francisco got more defensive wizardry from Gorkys Hernandez, who got a good jump on a Jose Pirela fly ball to left center and tracked it down on the dead run to get Suarez off the hook.

In the bottom of the sixth, Crawford provided another big blow.

Alen Hanson reached on a wet-newspaper single off of righty Adam Cimber, beating out a flip from to Cimber by sliding headfirst into first. He then got a huge jump and swiped second, and moved to third on a line-drive Brandon Belt single to right, just past the glove of Jose Pirela.

Up came Crawford, who hit a booming two-strike double to left center, bringing home both Belt and Hanson, giving San Francisco a 3-1 lead. After the Giants added a run on an RBI double by Hernandez in the seventh, Crawford led off the eighth with a double, and rode home on a sacrifice fly by new call-up Austin Slater, getting pinch hitting duties on his first day back in San Francisco. Crawford reached base all four times he stepped to the plate, and all three of his hits went for extra bases. Consider the All-Star campaign in full swing.

“I got three days off for Bryson, so I’ll take that little break if it means going to an All- Star game,” Crawford said.

SF Bay Crawford drives Giants to victory over Padres Gabriel Agurcia

A pair of Crawford run-scoring extra-base hits didn’t come in time to get starter Andrew Suárez a win, but the rookie continued his surge, lowering his June ERA to 2.86 allowing one run over 5-2/3 frames. Along with Crawford, who had been cold since returning from paternity leave, and more stellar work from bullpen standouts Reyes Moronta (W, 3-1, 1.85 ERA) and Tony Watson, Suárez (ND, 2-4, 4.43 ERA) gave San Francisco (39-39) a 5-3 victory over the Padres (35-44) at AT&T Park. The Giants guaranteed, at worst, a split of this four-game series with San Diego. The Giants were surprised minutes before the first pitch, seeing southpaw reliever Matt Strahm (ND, 1-2, 2.21 ERA) take the mound for San Diego instead of scheduled starter, right-hander Jordan Lyles. Lyles was pulled due to right forearm tightness, but was listed as the starter until Strahm took the mound for the bottom of the first. Strahm pitched well, allowing just two hits, one earned run and striking out five over 3-1/3 innings of work. But San Francisco tagged three Padres relievers for four runs. The breakaway damage was done to right-handed submariner Adam Cimber (L, 3-4, 3.18 ERA), who allowed Crawford’s first big hit, a two-run double in the sixth inning to give the Giants a 3-1 lead. Crawford ended Saturday afternoon’s game a perfect 3-for-3 — compiling a walk, two doubles, a triple, three RBIs and one run scored. His performance ended an 18 at-bat hitless streak, which he knew he was close to snapping out of: “Even though it may not have looked that good at times, I did feel like I was seeing the ball well, just my timing might have been a little bit off. It’s just a matter of squaring the ball up, finding a hole, hitting it to as spot where they couldn’t catch it.” Suárez never faced much trouble, scattering eight hits and inducing three double plays. His only blemish was a solo home run in the fourth inning by right fielder Hunter Renfroe. Of his effort, the rookie lefty said: “I didn’t have my slider today, or my glove-side fastball, so we just went with sinker- changeup and got some big double play balls.” Bochy was pleased with his starter’s performance, saying he’s noticed steady improvement from Suárez: “His pitches have gotten a little crisper. His fastball, it plays 93 in that ballpark. I think his breaking ball has gotten better up here. He does a good job of holding runners and doing the little things.” The Giants bullpen was clean for three straight innings until Sam Dyson allowed two runs, one earned, with two outs in the ninth. Dyson was able to work around the rare Crawford blunder to finish the game.

USA Today Crawford's 3 extra-base hits lead Giants over Padres 5-3 AP

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Two days after returning from the paternity list, Brandon Crawford's sleep pattern is slowly getting back to normal. His swing is looking smooth, too.

Crawford doubled twice, tripled and drove in three runs, leading the San Francisco Giants over the San Diego Padres 5-3 on Saturday.

The breakout game came less than a week after Crawford's wife gave birth to the couple's fourth child, son Bryson.

"You just know him, you know it's a matter of time," manager Bruce Bochy said. "I'm sure his timing was a little bit off. Today he found it. We needed it."

Crawford went into the game mired in an 0-for-18 funk. He walked in the second inning, hit a triple off Matt Strahm in the fourth and doubled in a pair of runs off Adam Cimber (3-4) in the sixth. Crawford also doubled and scored in the eighth.

"Even though I may not have looked that good at times, I did feel like I was seeing the ball well," Crawford said. "My timing might have just been a little bit off. It was just a matter of squaring the ball up, finding a hole, hitting it to a spot they couldn't catch it."

San Francisco's Gold Glove-winning shortstop also helped turn three of the Giants' four double plays. He made a throwing error in the ninth that allowed a run to score. Crawford was bothered as much by the error as he was excited about breaking out of his batting slump.

"It's frustrating, I'm not going to lie," Crawford said. "Obviously I like going 3-for-3 any day, but I want to be able to make those plays in the ninth inning also."

Brandon Belt singled twice and Gorkys Hernandez added an RBI double as the Giants won their fifth in seven games.

Reyes Moronta (3-1) retired three batters.

Hunter Renfroe homered for San Diego. The Padres have dropped six of seven.

San Diego manager Andy Green was forced to scramble after starting pitcher Jordan Lyles was scratched from the lineup with right forearm tightness minutes before he was scheduled to take the mound in the bottom of the first.

"Just kind of my read on his body and the way he was talking and the way he was feeling was that it wasn't worth putting him on the mound today," Green said. "We're very hopeful that it's just one of those things where by keeping him off the mound today we preserved the rest of his season."

Strahm, who started last Sunday in Atlanta, replaced Lyles and pitched into the fourth inning. Strahm gave up two hits and left after yielding Crawford's RBI triple.

Cimber, the fourth San Diego pitcher, allowed both runs in the sixth.

Hernandez doubled in Nick Hundley in the seventh to make it 4-1.

Giants starter Andrew Suarez gave up one run in 5 2/3 innings.

Things got a little chippy in the seventh when Andrew McCutchen was hit by a pitch from San Diego reliever Phil Maton. McCutchen took exception after the previous pitch was high and inside, and he glared at Maton for several moments. Padres A.J. Ellis stepped in front of McCutchen and spoke to the hitter briefly before McCutchen walked to first base.

Earlier in the week, the Giants and Miami Marlins exchanged allegations of during their three-game series at AT&T Park.

ROSTER SHUFFLE The Giants optioned left fielder Mac Williamson to Triple-A Sacramento. Williamson was one of San Francisco's hottest hitters before suffering a concussion in late April but has struggled at the plate since returning. Austin Slater was recalled and will join a crowded depth chart in left. Alen Hanson started Saturday, with Hunter Pence and Austin Jackson also in the mix.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Giants: RHP Johnny Cueto (elbow inflammation) was scheduled make his first rehab start with Sacramento on Saturday night. ... RHP Jeff Samardzija (shoulder tightness) will join Cueto in Sacramento and will throw around 90 pitches in a rehab start Tuesday.

UP NEXT

Giants RHP Dereck Rodriguez (2-1, 4.56 ERA) makes his third home start since joining the rotation. Rodriguez is unbeaten in his two previous starts at AT&T Park while allowing four runs in 11 innings. Eric Lauer (3-4, 5.47) pitches for the Padres. The left-hander has yielded three earned runs or fewer in his previous four starts.