Pregame message lights fire as Giants’ offense gets going

SAN FRANCISCO — Too often, the Giants have set the table only to see their streaky offense struggle to feast on scoring opportunities. They finally managed to reverse that trend on Sunday. 

Patrick Bailey delivered a go-ahead, bases-clearing double to cap a four-run rally in the fifth inning as the Giants held off the mighty Braves, 8-5, to avoid a three-game sweep at Oracle Park.

Atlanta went ahead, 3-2, by scoring three runs off rookie right-hander Tristan Beck in the fifth, but the Giants immediately countered with one of their biggest rallies of the second half. Luis Matos reached on a hustle double, Austin Slater singled and Wilmer Flores walked to load the bases with two outs for J.D. Davis, who drew another free pass off Collin McHugh to force in a run and tie the game at 3. 

The Giants entered Sunday batting only .204 with the bases loaded, which ranked 25th in the Majors, but they finally landed the big blow thanks to Bailey, who yanked a 2-2 sweeper past first baseman Matt Olson for a three-run double that made it 6-3.

“Pretty cathartic because we just haven’t gotten that one blow that changes the score in a big way for us,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “We’ve been able to scratch across runs. We’ve been able to get some runners on base, but it’s been a while since we’ve cleared the bases with a double. It’s a big deal. I would say it’s kind of a relief to everybody in the dugout.”

“That was huge,” Bailey said. “J.D. and Flo had unbelievable at-bats, just kind of passing the baton. I think when we’re going well offensively, that’s how we are. We don’t really have a hero. Any given night, it’s someone different. Hopefully we can keep that rolling.”

Marcell Ozuna brought the Braves within one with a two-run home run off lefty Scott Alexander in the sixth, but the Giants tacked on a pair of insurance runs behind RBI singles from Austin Slater and Thairo Estrada in the bottom half of the inning. 

Closer Camilo Doval took the mound in the ninth having blown four consecutive saves, but he returned to form by working a 1-2-3 inning to collect his 34th save of the year.

Davis went 1-for-3 with two RBIs, and Casey Schmitt launched his third home run of the season — and his first since May 11 — to help propel the Giants, who finished 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

With the win, San Francisco (67-63) stayed within 1 1/2 games of the D-backs for the third National League Wild Card spot with 32 games left to play. The Giants are currently tied in the standings with the Reds (68-64), whom they’ll host for a pivotal three-game series beginning Monday at Oracle Park.

The Giants’ playoff odds have taken a hit following their recent 6-14 slide, but they drew some pregame inspiration from Estrada, who called a team meeting on Sunday to try to shake the club out of its rut.

“Everybody knows we haven’t had a good August,” Estrada said in Spanish. “We needed it, the meeting. I talked a little bit and tried to give a positive message and remind everyone of how talented and capable we are.  

“I think today we did what we were doing earlier in the season. Playing aggressively, trying to take the extra base, going pitch to pitch, at-bat to at-bat, regardless of the score. And look, we ended up getting a positive result.”

Estrada isn’t the most vocal Giant, but his message — which was delivered in Spanish and translated by assistant hitting coach Pedro Guerrero — certainly resonated with the team. 

“That’s a guy I look up to on this team,” said Beck, who gave up three runs on three hits over 4 1/3 innings in his first career Major League start. “When he speaks, it carries a lot of weight.”

Beck opened his outing with four perfect innings, but he ran into trouble the third time through the order. Matt Olson drew a leadoff walk to open the fifth, giving the Braves their first baserunner of the game. Eddie Rosario followed with a one-out double off the left-field wall, setting up Travis d’Arnaud’s game-tying, two-run single to right field. 

Beck was removed after giving up an infield single to Orlando Arcia, but the Braves went ahead, 3-2, on Nicky Lopez’s subsequent RBI single off Alexander. The Giants managed to stop the bleeding by turning a wild 3-1-4-2 double play to end the inning.

Alexander broke late to first base on Ronald Acuña Jr.’s tapper to the right side, but he took a feed from Davis and flipped to Estrada at first base. Estrada then threw home, with Bailey slapping a tag on Arcia, who was initially ruled safe before the call was overturned via replay. 

“That was one of the crazier plays I’ve ever seen,” Beck said. “That was awesome.”