The Giants beat the Brewers, above . 500 for the first time in 2023

Milwaukee – After a disappointing start to the season, it looks like the Giants are finally hitting their stride.

With a 15-1 win over the Brewers at American Family Field Friday night, the Giants (26-25) notched up their ninth win in their last 11 games and climbed above . 500 for the first time in 2023.

The San Francisco 19’s lineup has been a hit, including a trio of homers of Mitch Hanniger, Brett Weasley, and JD Davis. Haniger’s two-run strike off Milwaukee right-back Freddy Peralta—his first for the Giants out of Mexico City—capped a three-run second, while Wisely’s three-run blast capped the seven-run spree that opened the game. in the third group.

“There are a lot of good swings, obviously,” said manager Gabe Kapler. “Good at bats up and down the lineup. Some of the bats that didn’t finish well were even grinding at bats and running down the field. I thought our guys did a great job from top to bottom.”

The Brewers—already shaken by the loss of shortstop Willie Adams, who was hospitalized after being hit by a foul ball in the dugout in the bottom of the second—never recovered, mustering only one run with three strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. Lefty against Alex Wood.

Wood has yet to complete five innings in his first six games of the year, but he provided some much-needed length for the Giants on Friday, striking out five while throwing 93 pitches in his longest start of the season. Tristan Beck took care of the rest, shooting a scoreless 3 1/3 innings to give his loyal teammates a break after the club’s league game on Thursday.

The San Francisco staff has not allowed more than four runs in 12 straight games, the longest active streak in the majors.

“The boys scored a bunch of runs for me,” Wood said, smiling. “They wanted to see me get the sixth inning today. That was nice. I can’t help but think about it in the third when they scored a bunch of runs. It was great. Anytime you get that support, it’s great. I hope they keep doing that.” In every one of my beginnings.”

The Giants have stumbled out of the gate this season, going just 6-13 over their first 19 games, but they’ve managed to turn it around by going 20-12 in 32 games since April 22.

Several factors have put them up lately, including lights-out work from their bullpen (0.88 ERA over the last 11 games), and a hot stretch from Michael Conforto (. 368 batting average with seven homers and 16 RBI). over his last 15 games) and the arrival of stable rookies like Casey Schmitt, Patrick Bailey, and Wisely, who combined to go 8-for-15 with seven RBI from the bottom third of the lineup on Friday.

All the positive developments add up to the Giants’ first winning record since last August, though they still have work to do in the National League West, where they sit in third place behind the Dodgers (31-21) and the D linebackers (29-21).

“It’s great to finally get over that hump,” Wood said. “We’ve taken it every day at a time. We feel like we have the pieces on both sides of the ball. … It’s nice to see and feel like we’re playing our brand of baseball. We’re playing, the Bulls have been great the last couple of weeks, the guys are contributing. We’ve got to keep it going.” Hopefully we’re kind of starting to hit our stride. That’s what we expect to see day in and day out going forward.”

Like Conforto, Haniger suffered a slow start at the plate after missing the first three weeks of the season due to an oblique strain, but he also began to show signs of emerging from his lengthy slump. 521 OPS over 24 games, but collected three hits and lost in four runs against the Brewers, demonstrating the kind of production the Giants envisioned when they signed him to a three-year, $43.5 million deal. dollars during the off-season.

Haniger said he’s mainly been smoothing things out by holding and staying in his legs, which he hopes will help him settle into a better rhythm on the plate.

“It’s all about making adjustments,” Hanegger said. “It’s not the first month I imagined I would start the year. I definitely want to produce more and cross more. At the end of the day, I have to keep working hard and making adjustments. It will come. It has always been for me throughout my career. You go through ups and downs. You just have to learn from it and make adjustments.”