3 takeaways from the SF Giants sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates

After a promising start to the 2023 season, the SF Giants went into the All-Star break at 49-41, within three games of the lead in the NL West, and three games into the second half, it appears they're ready to compete the whole way this season.

3 takeaways from the SF Giants sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates

To kick off the second half of the year, the Giants did battle on the road with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and even up against a tough squad, they showed the resilience we've seen all season long, pulling out a close three-game sweep before they continue their road trip to take on the very tough Cincinnati Reds.

But before we get to that, lets take a look back at the past three days with three takeaways from the SF Giants impressive series sweep over the Pittsburgh Pirates on the road.

1. The SF Giants rookies continue to thrive

Perhaps the biggest story of the first half this year was the explosion of rookies that made a big impact for San Francisco, and after getting a much needed break last weekend, they came back and have hit the ground running once more.

Twice through this series, both Luis Matos and Patrick Bailey came up with clutch hits, and with solid defensive play all around, they are establishing themselves as critical to not only the future of the Giants, but their chances of winning in the present too.

With Casey Schmitt and Blake Sabol chipping in every now and then, this is a team that's looking solid long-term, and if they have designs on a deep playoff run in 2023, they'll lean heavily on this young core as well.

2. The first half of the year wasn't a fluke

Any team in baseball are capable of making big runs throughout the year, but to find consistency over a 162 game schedule is tough, so for those saying the Giants hot start was a fluke, this has gone a long way to proving that wrong.

Sure, they're still sitting two games out of first place in the NL West behind the rival Dodgers with many tough opponents to play, but even on the road against a talented young team, they kept their composure and showed they're in it for the long haul this year.

The upcoming schedule has some very winnable series against Washington, Detroit and Oakland, and if the Giants can feast in those games and pick up some valuable wins against tougher competition, this is a team ready to surprise the entire baseball world.

3. The SF Giants offense continues to come alive late

Seemingly nothing has come easy for the Giants in 2023, as they have continued to scratch and claw to fight their way into a playoff position as we speak, and perhaps the biggest reason for this continued success is their ability to come alive late in games.

In this series alone, the Giants scored 10 of their 17 runs in the seventh inning or later, with a whopping five in extra innings of their 8-4 win on Sunday evening, and while they'd love to start scoring early, being so clutch will help this team as the season goes on.

If the pitching can catch up and the Giants can begin getting good starts from their rotation, this is a very dangerous team, but for now, it seems as though torture is back, but that's nothing new for San Francisco fans.