A day after the San Francisco Giants offense was held scoreless, their sticks got hot again. Really hot.
In a game that featured five lead changes over the first five innings, the Giants’ fifth run was the difference in Friday’s 8-5 win over the NL West Diamondbacks.
The Giants have scored 88 points in 12 games, including Thursday’s 10-0 loss to the Padres.
Two-out RBI doubles from Michael Conforto and Blake Sabol kicked things off for the Giants in the third as the Giants took a 3-1 lead. The corner outfield duo, two of seven left-handers in Friday night’s starting lineup against Arizona right-hander Zach Davies, both drove low pellets into the opposite field to extend the inning.
Conforto came back again in the fifth, firing a curveball from Davies to the right field line for a brace that scored Joc Pederson and JD Davis. Rookie receiver Patrick Bailey hammered in the game-clinching shot, drilling a medium-medium sinker from reliever Joe Mantiply on the wall at left center.
“That’s when you know you’re kind of locked in,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said of Conforto. “When you hit all the pitches and hit them line by line.”
Conforto was anything but locked in his previous six games, going 0-for-17 in his last at-bat on June 17.
“When I take fastballs over home plate and hit them the other way, that’s definitely where I need to be,” Conforto said. “Pulling the stuff out of gear too. It was good to contribute tonight and to get through these great moments.
| Arizona | San Francisco | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a B | r | h | bi | a B | r | h | bi | ||||
| Totals | 35 | 5 | 8 | 4 | Totals | 35 | 8 | 12 | 8 | ||
| Perdomo ss | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Wade Jr. 1b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Marte 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Pederson d | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Carroll lf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Davis 3b | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
| C.Walker 1b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | rf comfort | 4 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Guriel Jr.d | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Sabollf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Thomas cf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Slater ph-lf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Longoria 3b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Bailey c | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Moreno c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Crawford SS | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Smith ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Diaz 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| McCarthy rf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | Gear see | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arizona | 010 | 120 | 010 | — | 5 |
| San Francisco | 003 | 050 | 00x | — | 8 |
E_Bailey (3). DP_Arizona 1, San Francisco 1. LOB_Arizona 5, San Francisco 7. 2B_Perdomo (14), Carroll (20), Thomas (7), Conforto 2 (6), Sabol (7), Davis (12). HR_Longoria (10), Bailey (4). SB_Carroll (23).
| 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Davies pitched to 3 batters in the 5th.
Referees: Home, Jim Wolf; First, Mike Muchlinski; Second, Sean Barber; Third, Alan Porter.
T: 2h25. A: 31,992 (41,915).
Bailey’s homer was his fourth overall and third against a left-handed pitcher. The 24-year-old receiver announced for his defense is 12 for 29 against lefties.
“I’m still a little surprised,” Bailey said of his home run. “I can’t trust myself not sprinting out of the box. We’ll keep running hard until they keep coming.
The offensive spark helped starter Logan Webb, who struggled a bit against Arizona’s powerful offense. The San Francisco ace matched his season high allowing four runs, three of which were earned. He still managed to pitch seven innings, allowing former teammate Evan Longoria to home run in the second inning. Longoria’s cheers, taking his first at bat at Oracle Park since leaving in the offseason, turned to boos as the 37-year-old trotted around the bases.
“It’s one of the best teams in baseball,” Webb said. “So just trying to limit the damage. I know they don’t hit, they don’t chase, they don’t swing and miss. They do all the right things. I’m glad the guys had eight points. They had my back today for sure.
Webb’s outing on Friday was just the latest of his round eaters this season. Friday marked the third straight start in which he pitched at least seven innings and he has done so in eight of his last 10. He leads the league with 105⅓ innings pitched.
“The innings that Logan provided us with were just as valuable to the bullpen as they were to our team in general and his own stat line,” Kapler said. “He covered a ton of innings for us and, in large part, that’s why our bullpen is in such good shape today.”
While Webb got some offensive assist, his defense didn’t make it any easier. A ground player run over by Alek Thomas gave up an errant throw from Bailey that first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. couldn’t handle, allowing Christian Walker to score in the fourth. Bailey added a league-high 58 errors for the Giants.
But the Giants defense finished strong. With two outs in the ninth, Arizona shortstop Geraldo Perdomo appeared to have a single down the middle to extend the game against closer Giants Camilo Doval. But, going to his left, shortstop Brandon Crawford dived just past second base, came up with the ground, and shot Wade to secure the game’s final out.
“It’s just Brandon Crawford doing things to Brandon Crawford,” Webb said. “It amazes me every time he comes out and plays defense. He’s a I don’t even know how many times Gold Glover. But, he’s damn good there.
San Francisco’s offense did all of its damage Friday night despite missing Mike Yastrzemski, who was on the 10-day disabled list with a sprained left hamstring.
The Giants moved to 2½ games behind Arizona for the NL West lead. Although Webb said he didn’t like talking about the 2021 107-win season the last time the Giants won the division, he couldn’t help but compare this year’s run with the success of the Giants in 2023.
“One thing we did that year, I think better than anyone, is always know you’re in the game no matter what,” Webb said. “You could lose three points, four points, sometimes five points, but always knowing that we’re going to kind of scratch and come back to a draw where we put ourselves in a position to win.”
Contact Sam Warren: Sam.Warren@sfchronicle.com