Giants’ Crawford gets back in the swing of things
SAN FRANCISCO >> His average had dipped more than 30 points in just two weeks.
Contact that was so solid for more than a month was suddenly weak. Swings that looked so fluid started to look out of whack.
But All-Stars make adjustments, and Brandon Crawford is poised to start the All-Star Game.
With three extra-base hits, a walk, three RBIs and one tremendous play at shortstop, Crawford snapped an 0-for-18 stretch at the plate and lifted the Giants past the Padres in a 5-3 win.
“Even though I may not have looked good at times, I did feel like I was seeing the ball well and my timing was just a little bit off,” Crawford said. “It was just a matter of squaring the ball up. Finding a hole. Hitting it to a spot where they couldn’t catch it.”
The National League’s leading All-Star vote-getter at shortstop, Crawford is well on his way to locking up a starting role in the showcase of baseball’s best talent.
Despite a rough ninth inning that included a throwing error for Crawford, his impressive day at the plate helped the Giants climb back to .500 and earn a shot to clinch a series victory over San Diego on Sunday.
“Today he found it,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “What a great game and we needed it. We needed somebody to come through.”
With right-hander Jordan Lyles slated to start for the Padres, Bochy included every left-handed position player on his roster on the lineup card he turned in before the game.
After the Giants optioned outfielder Mac Williamson to Triple-A Sacramento following Friday’s game, switch-hitter Alen Hanson started in left field while all four infielders, including switch-hitting third baseman Pablo Sandoval, were geared up to hit from the left-handed batter’s box.
However, Lyles experienced right forearm tightness during his pregame bullpen session, forcing Padres skipper Andy Green to send lefty Matt Strahm down to the bullpen in the top of the first inning.
Strahm has prior expe- rience as a starter, but the decision to insert him in Lyles’ place was an easy choice for Green considering Strahm could neutralize the Giants’ left-handed hitters.
The Giants failed to challenge Strahm until the bottom of the fourth, when the left-hander issued a lead- off walk to Andrew Mc- Cutchen. After Brandon Belt flew out to right field, Crawford stepped to the plate and smashed a line drive high off the brick wall in right field.
“He’s been pretty consistent with everything, just his routine and how he prepares every single day,” McCutchen said of Crawford. “He does his stuff the right way.”
Crawford’s hit caromed into right-center field and allowed him to reach third with his second triple of the season. The RBI knot- ted the score at 1-1, but a Pablo Sandoval popup and Joe Panik strikeout prevented San Francisco from taking the lead.
In the top of the fifth, Crawford potentially saved a run with a play on a steal attempt by Manuel Margot.
With Margot jetting toward second, Crawford raced over and caught a throw from Nick Hundley on the right side of the base. He snagged the tailing throw and slapped a tag down on Margot in one fluid motion, robbing the Padres of a chance to score when A.J. Ellis delivered a two-out single through the left side of the infield.
“Initially I’m just trying to go get it,” Crawford said. “Then as the throw is coming in, you time it up to where I could tag him.”
San Diego tagged Giants starter Suárez in the top of the fourth on a solo home run by Hunter Renfroe, but that was the only damage the Padres did in 5 2/3 innings against the Giants rookie.
“I didn’t have my slider today or my glove-side fastball and we just went with sinker and changeup,” Suárez said. “We got some big double-play balls and the defense made great plays as well.”
After allowing a pair of two-out singles in the sixth, Suárez was lifted in favor of Reyes Moronta, who escaped a jam and earned a win before Tony Watson bridged the gap to Sam Dyson who picked up a save.
Crawford missed the first three games of the Giants homestand, as he was placed on the paternity list and celebrated the arrival of his fourth child, Bryson. Though it took a few days for Crawford to regain his form at the plate, he broke a 3-for-34 stretch Saturday, including hitting an eighth-inning double that led to a run on an Austin Slater sacrifice fly.
“I was hoping I would just break right out when I came back,” Crawford said. “... I think my timing was just a little bit off and I felt a lot better today.”