SF Giants overcome 4run deficit against Reds

SAN FRANCISCO — When analyzing the Giants’ offensive struggles this season on Tuesday afternoon, catcher Buster Posey said the team’s strong performance in 60 games last year was a better indicator of the lineup’s potential than the lackluster output fans saw through 10 games this season.

“Sometimes it only takes a game or two to really get everyone going,” Posey said. “Maybe tonight’s that night.”

Tuesday was indeed that night.

After scoring four runs or fewer in eight straight games, the Giants overcame a 4-0 first inning deficit and powered their way to a 7-6 victory over the Reds at Oracle Park.

On a night when the Giants (74) hit three big home runs, it was a small-ball approach in the late innings that helped them take control of Tuesday’s game and even their three-game series against Cincinnati.

After leadoff man Tommy La Stella opened the game 3-for-3, manager Gabe Kapler replaced him with pinch-hitter Donovan Solano to lead off the eighth inning against left-hander Cionel Pérez. The Giants wanted a right-hander at the plate to open the inning and the decision paid off as Solano drew a walk before moving around the base paths on a walk, a fielder’s choice and a sacrifice fly from first baseman Wilmer Flores.

With the temperature at first pitch hovering around 54 degrees and a pair of hard-throwing frontline starters, Kevin Gaus

man and Luis Castillo, on the mound, no one expected Tuesday’s matchup to turn into a slugfest.

But by the end of the first inning, bettors were already cashing tickets as the teams combined to surpass the over/under of 7.5 runs thanks to four tworun homers. After Reds first baseman Joey Votto and third baseman Mike Moustakas took Gausman deep in the top of the first, Mike Yastrzemski and Brandon Crawford answered in the bottom of the inning.

Prior to Tuesday, there had never been four home runs hit in the first inning of a game at Oracle Park.

Yastrzemski’s 109.4 mph blast into the right field arcade seats was not only the hardest-hit ball of Yastrzemski’s career, but also the hardest-hit ball by a Giants player this season, topping the 108.7 mph homer Brandon Belt pulled into nearly the same location in Sunday’s game. Crawford didn’t hit his two-run shot to the opposite field with the same force, but it temporarily pulled him into a tie with Evan Longoria for the team lead with three homers on the year.