San Francisco Giants: Hits Are Contagious Against Ace Kershaw

After struggling with finding multiple hits in the same inning, the bats started clicking in enemy territory.  It looked like it was a pitcher's duel again with Clayton Kershaw on the mound until Matt Cain did it with his bat.  After his single in the third, the Giants looked for mistakes and put up four runs in four innings.  

The Giants started the fourth inning with four consecutive singles.  After struggling for the past week to get even two hits in the same inning, the Giants have seemed to figure it out for now.  

It all started with Pat "The Bat" Burrell finding a hole, and then Cody Ross, Aubrey Huff and Miguel Tejada all did the same.  They all looked for a pitch in which to make solid contact, and made Kershaw pay.  After Mark DeRosa worked into a 2-2 count before leaving the game, Mike Fontenot took two pitches to walk in another run.  

How the Giants scored their runs tonight against Kershaw reminded me how they made their World Series title run last fall.  Last year, the Giants were patient and cashed-in when opportunities came.  Tonight, they didn't miss out on run-scoring opportunities tonight either.  

Even though the bullpen couldn't hold the lead for Matt Cain, the hits continued in the ninth.  When they put two more runners on in a tie game, I was hoping for one last hit.  After the last few weeks and for most of this year, I would not have been surprised had Cormier shut down their late rally.

However, Ross wants to be the hero again.  He hit a three-run bomb that just stayed fair in left field on a pitch that caught too much of the strike zone.  It hung up above and around the knees, and Ross, just like last fall, did not miss it.  

It's this kind of offense that I hope the Giants can continue to put less pressure on the pitching staff, and they can put a gap between them and NL West contenders.