SAN FRANCISCO — Two months ago, the Giants would have considered their rally over, kaput and done with if faced with the same situation that presented itself Monday night. There were two runners on base, one out and Joey Bart was stepping to the plate.
On Monday, after a demotion to Triple-A, an overhaul of his swing and a “vote of confidence” from the Giants front office, the at-bat ended in two RBIs and Bart’s third hit of the night. No longer is Bart a “black hole” — the words used by former catcher Curt Casali — nor struggling to put together “competitive” at-bats, the criticism once leveled by manager Gabe Kapler.
The two-RBI single ultimately held little significance to the 6-1 final score Monday night — beyond tacking on the final of six runs against Madison Bumgarner in his third start back at Oracle Park with the D-backs — but Bart’s emergence could mean the world for a team gasping for its postseason life.
After completing their first three-game sweep since June this weekend, the Giants kept the good times rolling Monday against the D-backs to extend their winning streak to four games, also the longest they have gone without a loss since sweeping the Dodgers and taking two from the Royals in the middle of June.
They have won seven of their past nine games, but their hot stretch still leaves them only a game above .500 and 5.5 out of playoff position, after San Diego was shut out in Miami.
Asked recently what gives him hope that this squad can make up that ground in the little time left — 47 games remain after Monday — Kapler pointed to his club’s first clean bill of health all season.
Injuries to Evan Longoria, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, Tommy La Stella and others have hampered the Giants’ ability to perform up to the potential of the roster as it was constructed this offseason, even if other faults — poor defense from the National League’s oldest group of position players, regression from the majors’ best bullpen last season — could have been predicted.
Now, the Giants are healthy. And they have a catcher they can count on. Will it be enough?
It certainly has been the past four games against the Pirates and D-backs, two clubs with worse records than San Francisco, but especially so Monday night.
Longoria, starting at third base for the first time since returning from a hamstring injury, went first-pitch swinging against Bumgarner in the fourth inning and sent a two-run shot to left field that got the Giants on the board.
Alex Cobb offered a reminder of what the Giants have had all season with another strong outing from a starting pitcher. The only damage he allowed over six innings came on Christian Walker’s 461-foot moonshot in his final frame.
It will be Bart’s line that sticks out in the box score, though.
In addition to his RBI single in the sixth, Bart reached base two more times.
He extended his hitting streak to a season-long seven games with a beautiful bunt in his first at-bat that he beat out without a throw. His next trip to the plate ended with him standing on second base after lifting a high-arcing fly ball that bounced high off the brick wall in right field, giving Bart a double and his fifth multi-hit game on his current streak.
With his third hit, Bart raised his batting average since the start of his hitting streak to .500. After striking out in his final at-bat, Bart finished Monday night with 13 hits in 27 at-bats (.481) over his past seven games.
As for the bunt? It was so well executed, hugging the cut of the grass as it rolled down the third-base line before glancing off the bag as Bart chugged into first on the opposite side of the diamond, that it garnered national praise across social media.
Remember, this came off the bat of a guy who not even two weeks ago said he hadn’t squared up once — let alone gotten one down — since he was an amateur. So, yes, Bart has proven he can improve.
Notable
• First baseman Brandon Belt, playing his 1,305th career game with the Giants, surpassed Robby Thompson for the seventh-most in a San Francisco uniform. Facing his old teammate Bumgarner, Belt struck out in his first two at-bats before sending a long fly out to center field (a 383-foot out, the Giants’ longest-hit ball besides Longoria’s homer).
•In his third start at Oracle Park and fifth against the Giants since joining the D-backs, Bumgarner allowed all six San Francisco runs, the most he has given up against his former team. The Giants have won all three of his starts at Oracle Park, while Arizona has won the two games at Chase Field, including his July 4 start earlier this season.
