Friday marked 1,480 days since Giants catcher Buster Postey had hit his last grand slam.
Hitting another one Friday night against the Milwaukee Brewers might not have made the wait any sweeter, but it did come at a perfect time for his time. Posey's powerful swing sealed surging San Francisco's 10-6 win over the Brewers at Miller Park.
🚨 GRAND SLAM ALERT 🚨
#SFGiants pic.twitter.com/wWyjbT6xAx — San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) July 13, 2019
Posey stepped to the plate in the top of the 10th inning with the bases loaded and the game tied 6-6, after Will Smith blew his first save of the season in the ninth inning. Facing Matt Albers on Milwaukee's mound, Posey swung at the first pitch he saw, a 92.1 mph sinker, and blasted the ball off the scoreboard in center field.
The grand slam was Posey's fourth home run of the season, and his first since June 1. It was also his longest dinger in the "Statcast era."
Hi hello, Buster Posey hit a 435-ft grand slam.
That's his longest HR tracked by Statcast (since 2015).
Previous longest was 431 ft on May 12, 2017 against the Reds. pic.twitter.com/o83p2FGyEd — Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) July 13, 2019
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Posey's slam was also the Giants' fifth home run of the night. Austin Slater (two-run, fiffth inning), Evan Longoria (two-run, sixth inning) Tyler Austin and Brandon Crawford (solo, eighth inning) all got in on the action.
Yes, the Giants had hit five total home runs all season entering Friday, but it had been a while since San Francisco hit five in a single game. Over five years to be exact, as The Athletic's Grant Brisbee noted and Bay Area News Group's Kerry Crowley:
First five-dinger game for the Giants since 2014.
My list of the top 10 veteran players the Giants can add at the deadline: — Grant Brisbee (@GrantBrisbee) July 13, 2019
This is the first time the #SFGiants have hit five homers in a game since they hit six on April 23, 2014 at Coors Field.
That game: Mike Morse and Hector Sanchez each hit two and Brandon Belt and Brandon Hicks each hit one. — Kerry Crowley (@KO_Crowley) July 13, 2019
The Giants improved to 42-48 with Friday's win, and they are now 8-2 in their last 10 games. A victory Saturday would be their third straight, and clinch their third consecutive series win.
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San Francisco's win moved the team 4.5 games back of the second Wild Card spot with ... seven teams to jump. That likely is out of reach, but the modest standings goals NBC Sports Bay Area's Alex Pavlovic laid out Friday are not.
The Giants now are the closet they've been to .500 since they fell to 20-26 on May 20, and the closest they've been as close as one game below .500 for exactly one game. If they keep this pace up, that might not be the case at the end of the season.
