SF Giants have been shockingly dominant in one inning this season

The SF Giants have been very streaky on offense so far this season. However, they have been far and away the best team in all of baseball when it comes to runs scored in the 6th inning. Maybe they need to trick themselves into thinking every inning is the 6th.

SF Giants have been most prolific offensive team in the 6th inning

Take a look at the graphic below courtesy of NBC Sports Bay Area which is current up through Saturday's game:

The Giants have scored 43 runs in the 6th inning this season which is nearly twenty more runs than the next closest team. What accounts for this offensive surge the Giants have enjoyed in the sixth inning?

Perhaps it is a sign that the Giants have done better against opposing starters the third time through the lineup once they have had a chance to get a feel for a starter. It could also show that they do better against the bullpen if the Giants are able to get the opposing starter out of the game after five innings by getting a lot of pitches out of him.

This anomaly helps explain why the Giants have been one of the best comeback teams this season with all of their comeback wins coming when they were down by two runs or more. They have had a formula of getting down early in games but hanging in there and scoring some runs, often in the sixth inning, to draw even or get back on top.

Saturday's game against the Colorado Rockies was a prime example of this. The Giants were down 3-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. The Giants were able to load the bases with one out and in the process knocked the starting pitcher out of the game. Colorado brought in a reliever and shortly thereafter Matt Chapman hit a grand slam over the center field fence to give the Giants a 6-3 lead that they would not relinquish.

Ironically, the Giants did their damage in the 5th and 7th inning of Sunday's game against the Rockies as they scored 3 runs in the 5th and 4 runs in the 7th in a 9-run effort that resulted in a victory.

The Giants have been streaky on offense this season. Their team batting average is .231 which is the 24th-best in all of MLB. Yet, they are tied for 10th in MLB with 157 runs scored which may be due to the fact that they are third-best in all of baseball with a .278 team batting average with runners in scoring position. When the Giants have had ducks on the pond they have done a good job of getting them home.

This may not be the most sustainable way to score runs but it is how the Giants have gotten it done thus far. Let's hope they can apply whatever they have been doing in the sixth inning to the rest of the game going forward.