4-hit game good sign for Posey
A simple and sweet swing might help end a losing streak, but not a team’s woes. Whatever the effect in the long run, it sure felt good Sunday for Buster Posey to barrel up on an inside fastball and smack it to the left-field gap.
This has been a trying stretch for the Giants’ catcher, a hip ailment zapping his power, but his three-run double was reminiscent of the old Buster and ignited the struggling Giants to an 8-5 victory over the Brewers at AT&T Park.
Posey followed with three singles for his first four-hit game since 2016 — his only out came in his first at-bat, a sizzling liner to first base — and the Giants were thrilled to engage in postgame high-fiving after losing four in a row and six of seven.
“All year, we’ve been streaky,” Posey said. “We’ll go on a stretch where we’ll win eight of 10, then lose seven of nine. It seems it’s been that up-and-down type of year. Hopefully, we can get on a hot streak and minimize some of these lulls we’ve had.”
With the recent tailspin and Tuesday’s trade deadline looming, these are
uncertain times for the Giants, who had two players leave Sunday’s game, Pablo Sandoval with a strained right hamstring (MRI exam Monday) and Andrew McCutchen with a foot contusion after a foul tip.
Yet, as players packed for their trip to San Diego, they made sure to embrace the win in a bubbly clubhouse filled with loud music and optimism.
Posey even did an impersonation of manager Bruce Bochy.
Bochy missed the game to be at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, where his closer from his Padres days, Trevor Hoffman, was inducted, along with one of his former coaches, Alan Trammell.
Hensley Meulens managed for the day and apparently made all the right moves.
“He did great,” Posey said. “We’re going to see if we can keep Boch away for a couple of more days.
“I can hear him,” added Posey, dropping his voice an octave or two: “‘Oh, if you guys score eight runs, I’ll stay away.’ ”
Bochy still got credit for his 1,906th win, moving past Hall of Famer Casey Stengel for possession of 11th place. Even though Meulens ran the show, it counted on Bochy’s record.
“And he wasn’t even here for it,” quipped Posey.
Posey missed the All-Star Game to stay in the Bay Area, have a cortisone shot and receive treatment for his hip. He went 3-for-20 in the first two series after the break but hit better in the Milwaukee series, going 7-for-12.
Aside from Posey’s thirdinning double, he singled three times, twice by punching grounders through the right side as the Brewers shifted left.
“It’s not like I was trying to hit the hole there,” Posey said. “It just happened from the swing. I’ve talked to some of the guys about shifts. I think if you look (at the shifted alignment), sometimes you can deviate from your approach.
“I do also think it’s good for your mind’s eye to look around and see where people are. Like everything else in baseball, there’s that fine line. I don’t think you try to manipulate the ball unless there’s a drastic hole for you.”
It’s one day, one series. But it’s refreshing for someone who had just one extra-base hit in 17 games leading into the series.
“He had a big game for us. Hopefully, he can continue any way he can even though he’s not 100 percent,” Meulens said. “We’ve seen him do that before. The hip (issue) is not going to go away overnight. Hopefully, it will hold up through the season so he can continue to produce.”
After his double, Posey scored on Evan Longoria’s sacrifice fly. Gorkys Hernandez homered in the fourth, and Sandoval broke the game open with a two-run triple in the fifth but pulled the hamstring sliding at the plate on a sacrifice fly.