What we learned as Giants hit four homers, keep hopes alive originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
SAN FRANCISCO -- By the time the Giants got to Oracle Park on Friday, the Philadelphia Phillies had already snapped their five-game losing streak. As their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks was getting going, the Milwaukee Brewers closed out a tense win over the Miami Marlins and Cy Young frontrunner Sandy Alcantara.
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The elimination number is down to one, but for one more night at least, the Giants did their part to stay alive.
The lineup crushed season-long nemesis Merrill Kelly and the Giants won 10-4, getting back above .500. The win was the 10th in 11 games against the Colorado Rockies and Diamondbacks over the last two weeks and allowed the Giants to keep at least dreaming about the impossible.
With one loss -- or one win from either the Phillies or Brewers -- the Giants will be officially eliminated, but nobody cared about that Friday. It was a party at Oracle Park, with four homers and a Little League homer. Here's how it all went down:
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Triples Machine
Through his first eight big league seasons -- including a few when he was a pretty athletic center fielder -- Joc Pederson's high for triples was three. He had three in 2020 and 2021 combined, and he had none through his first 126 games for the Giants.
Because baseball is the weirdest, Pederson has now tripled three times in his last four games.
Friday night's three-bagger came in the second inning and ended with Pederson sliding safely across the plate after an error. Pederson left the batter's box thinking he had flied out to right, but the ball skipped off the bricks and back toward center field, where second baseman Josh Rojas alertly chased it down. His throw to the infield got past shortstop Geraldo Perdomo and Pederson ran through a stop sign, scoring as the crowd roared.
Family Night
Evan Longoria's family lives in Arizona, but his wife and three young children were at Oracle Park on Friday night and Longoria spent much of his pregame time showing them around. At one point, his one-year-old daughter had to be chased down as she hilariously attempted to join some of the action during batting practice.
Longoria put on a show for his family, hitting a three-run homer in the first inning and then adding a two-run blast to center in the second. Longoria's season-high for RBI was four; he passed that in the first two innings.
The multi-homer game was the second of the year for Longoria and the 21st of his career. Incredibly, both multi-homer efforts have come in the first two innings of a game. He has 14 on the season, his most since 2019, and now is up to 331 for his career.
Back To Even
On a night when the team got to 79-78, Alex Cobb got his own record back to even. He's 7-7 with a 3.79 ERA after going five innings. Cobb wasn't at his best, but he worked around some trouble in the fifth to qualify for the decision on a night when the Giants gave him plenty of support.
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Cobb struck out five and walked one, lowering his FIP to 2.89. That's eighth in the National League; Carlos Rodón ranks second and Logan Webb is 12th. The poor defense this season cost the Giants a chance to enter the postseason with one of the best 1-2-3 combos in baseball.
