What we learned as Giants beat Cards for fifth straight win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
SAN FRANCISCO -- The clearest sign yet that the Giants have turned a corner came not from one of their players, but from an opponent. Even Paul Goldschmidt can't slow them down right now.
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Goldschmidt hit his 29th and 30th career homers against the Giants early on, but Anthony DeSclafani and the lineup shrugged them off. The Giants won 7-3, extending their winning streak to five games and getting to 11-13 after a nightmare start to April.
For the ninth time in 14 days, the Giants faced a lefty, but they were better prepared to go at Steven Matz than they have been for most of the month. Mitch Haniger got all the attention on Monday, but Austin Slater -- the leadoff hitter against lefties -- also returned, and he reached base in his first three plate appearances on Wednesday.
Slater's RBI single in the fourth tied it up shortly after a LaMonte Wade Jr. homer, erasing the early damage done by Goldschmidt, who is on the Mount Rushmore of Giants-killers. The Giants caught a break an inning later when Wilmer Flores' two-out flyball to center was dropped. Given new life, the Giants took the lead on a wild pitch, and Flores padded it with a two-run shot in the seventh.
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The insurance runs were needed, because the Cardinals rallied in the ninth. They loaded the bases for Goldschmidt, but Camilo Doval got him to hit into an inning-ending double play.
Lefty Night LaMonte
Mike Yastrzemski was a late scratch from the lineup because of side tightness, giving Wade a rare start against a left-handed pitcher. He made the most of it.
Wade crushed a sinker into the visiting bullpen in the fourth, getting the Giants on the board against Matz. The homer was the first of his career against a left-handed pitcher.
Coming into the night, Wade had a .112 average against left-handed pitchers, including two hits in 11 at-bats this season. Given the quality of his plate appearances early on, there's no reason for the numbers to keep being that low. Perhaps Wednesday's swing was the start of something new.
Ownage is Ownage
Blake Sabol's walk-off kept Goldschmidt from being the star Tuesday, when he drove in two runs in the eighth to briefly put the Cardinals on top. A day later, there was no slowing him down.
Goldschmidt homered in his first two at-bats and reached base four times. For as good as Max Muncy has been at Oracle Park in recent years, he still has a long way to go to reach Goldschmidt's domination.
The longtime Diamondbacks and Cardinals star has a .970 OPS in 157 career games against the Giants, with 30 homers and 107 RBI. In 2022, when he was National League MVP, Goldschmidt posted a .981 OPS, 35 homers and 115 RBI in 151 games. He has essentially put up an MVP season against the Giants over the past 13 years, although given how dominant he has been at times, the only surprise might be that the numbers aren't even more overwhelming.
Sizzling Sabol
A night after his walk-off homer, Sabol had a two-strike hit off a left-hander and a two-strike hit on a 101 mph fastball. He also stole his second base of the season and made a perfect throw to second to nab a runner.
Sabol looks like a potential keeper, and the Giants are all of a sudden feeling much better about their group of young catchers. Joey Bart was batting .303 before a groin injury, and when the Giants needed to add a catcher to their taxi squad, Ricardo Genoves got the call over Gary Sanchez because of his good work in Triple-A.
During Wednesday's game, the Giants announced that former first-rounder Patrick Bailey has been promoted to Triple-A. Bailey had a .400 on-base percentage and a couple of homers in 14 Double-A games and is viewed as big league-ready defensively.
