San Francisco Giants offense stays hot, tops the Los Angeles Dodgers 9–5

Jun 19, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey (28) is congratulated in the dugout after hitting a grand slam home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

I don’t know what it is, but when the Giants and the Dodgers meet up this season, the Giants walk out on the field with some serious “battitude.” I know it’s not a real word, I made it up myself. All it means is the Giants are have come to play—seriously play. Yes, yes it’s an oxymoron, but what can I say? It works.

The Giants showed up in L.A. Friday, probably still celebrating their shutout victory in Seattle Thursday night, but obviously ready to get to work again. Like in Thursdays game, the Giants kept the line moving. Almost every Giant who made a plate appearance got a hit.

The two who were the exception: Joe Panik—who drew two walks, which we all know is as good as a hit because it gets you on board—he proved that when he scored a run; and Jeremy Affeldt, who came in to the game in the fifth inning to relieve Chris Heston. We all know about Bruce Bochy’s policy when it comes to his relief pitcher’s plate appearances: they’re supposed to take all the way at the plate. Essentially, they’re just a pair of shoes that stands in the batter’s box and tries not to get hurt.

The Giants scored in clusters: four runs in the third inning, a single run in the sixth inning and four more runs in the seventh inning. The Dodgers put a run on the board in the bottom of the second—the only time the Dodgers held the lead in the game.

With two outs and the bases loaded in the third, Buster Posey hit a high fly ball deep into left that landed on the other side of the fence for a grand slam. When the Dodgers took their turn at the plate in the bottom of the inning, they quickly snatched two of those runs right back, narrowing the Giants’ lead to one run.

It takes a thief…as if hitting a grand slam weren’t enough, Chris Haft from MLB.com reports that Posey is the first Giants catcher since 1903—according to information Haft obtained from Elias Sports Bureau—to record a stolen base and a grand slam in the same game. The thing is, Posey isn’t much of a thief, last nights theft marked his twelfth attempt—seventh successful—steal of his big league career. Even Posey had to ask: what are the odds?

In the sixth, the Giants added to their lead again—Brandon Belt hit a double and Brandon Crawford followed with another double, plating Belt.

I didn’t expect anything exciting to happen until the eighth inning—you know, because that’s kind of the Giants’ thing now—but they surprised me by batting through the entire order in the seventh inning. The Giants started with the top of the lineup—the Dodgers retired Nori Aoki, Panik walked, Angel Pagan followed with a base hit, Posey singled, and the bases were loaded. Belt struck out, but Crawford drew a walk, scoring Panik, Matt Duffy followed with a base hit that allowed both Pagan and Posey to score and advance Crawford to third. Blanco hit a single that scored Crawford, and Affeldt struck out to end the inning.

Giants pitcher Chris Heston pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits. George Kontos gave up a solo home run, and Michael Broadway, who was brought up from the minors last week, gave up one run on one hit and two walks. Closer Santiago Casilla struck out the only batter he faced to end the game. The final score was:
Giants 9, Dodgers 5.

It’s simple math…how’s that for an oxymoron? Even though the Giants’ pitchers gave up five runs, the Giants still won because they brought their bats. And they had battitude.