SAN FRANCISCO - Maybe Matt Moore really did ignite something with his near no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Giants came home to AT&T Park Friday night and looked like a real contender, punishing the lowly Atlanta Braves, 7-0, behind Jeff Samardzija to forge just their third two-game winning streak since the second half started with a second straight shutout.
There was a bouquet of positive signs in the victory, too. The Giants scored three runs in the first inning for the first time since May 28, and had a 5-0 lead after two. They received another solid outing from Samardzija, who didn't give up any home runs and strung together seven zeros despite some early wobbles. The Giants played errorless ball for the 11th straight game, and Brandon Crawford exhibited particularly fine defensive wizardry at short. Brandon Belt, Denard Span, Buster Posey all had two-hit games, and Angel Pagan whacked his ninth home run.
So, are happy days finally here again for the Giants, and can they make it three in a row for the first time since the All-Star break? Huge question. Jake Peavy gets the ball Saturday night and will be counted on to keep this mini-roll rolling, and if you can't beat up on the worst team in baseball - the Braves are now a ghastly 47-82 - who are you going to beat up on?
The game hardly started as if it would be a laugher, though. Samardzija surrendered a double to Ender Inciarte to open the game, and after Inciarte was thrown out at third base by Crawford trying to advance on a grounder, Freddie Freeman doubled off the right field wall to put runners at second and third with one out. But Samardzija toughened up and struck out Matt Kemp and Nick Markakis to escape the jam.
The Giants then rewarded him in the bottom half of the first, and did it all after two were out against Braves starter Joel De La Cruz (0-7). Posey reached on an infield single off the pitcher, Crawford legged out an infield single and Posey went to third on shortstop Dansby Swanson's wild throw to first. Belt then lined a single to center to score Posey, and Joe Panik's double down the left field line scored both Crawford and Belt.
Samardzija promptly got himself into another jam in the second, loading the bases with nobody out on a walk to Tyler Flowers and back-to-back singles to Jace Peterson and Swanson. But the Giants got a force out at home on a De La Cruz grounder to first, Samardzika struck out Inciarte and Crawford snared Adonis Garcia's hot liner to end that threat with no damage.
From there, it was pretty much a cruise-control victory. The Giants added two more in the second on Pagan's two-run homer into the right field arcade, his ninth long ball of the season.
Staked to a 5-0 lead, Samardzija (11-9) settled into a groove and made it through seven innings for the second straight start - earning a victory this time after a tough 2-0 loss to the New York Mets - walking three and striking out six. The bullpen took it from there, preserving the shutout with scoreless innings from Hunter Strickland and Cory Gearrin.
Samardzija even provided a little offense on this night, doubling to left in the fifth and scoring on a Span single to center. Belt drove in the seventh run of the night with an RBI double in the fifth.