Who Are These Guys, and What Have You Done with the San Francisco Giants?

For some poor Giants fans that turned on the television mid-game and saw a ball land half-way up the left-center field bleachers, there was no doubt a panicked, split-second tension, the faithful, torture-loving follower fearing the worst: that the Diamondbacks were pounding the Giants the way they had been mercilessly pounding every other opponent over the past two weeks.

This, of course, was the opening game of the most important series of the season, as the defending World Champions found themselves trailing the D'Backs by six games in the NL West with just 25 to go in the regular season.

But then this fan saw a strange sight: Carlos Beltran rounding the bases after hitting a two-run homer to put the Giants ahead of Arizona, 3-1 in the fourth inning.

After rubbing his eyes and squinting obsessively, the fan realized that this wasn't a dream.

And what was for any Giants fan an explosion of offense by this point, with the Giants having scored three runs in the first four innings to take the lead, was only the beginning of the runs-binge.

Cody Ross, who hadn't lived up to his nickname "boss" since the 2010 postseason, suddenly returned to NLCS form Friday night, as he slugged a double and then a two-run homer that would give San Francisco a 6-2 lead that was more than enough support for yet another superb outing by Matt Cain. 

And that Beltran guy, who was supposed to provide a punch in the heart of the lineup? He finally came through with runners in scoring position, going 4-for-4 with the above-mentioned bomb of a home run, a triple, and two sharp singles.

The man that the Giants traded their top pitching prospect—Zach Wheeler—for, just before the trade deadline, had finally resurfaced after what seemed an interminable absence due to a wrist injury.

Beltran and Ross's hitting proved contagious. Jeff Keppinger, who homered in San Francisco's series finale with the Cubs Wednesday, was about two feet from hitting another one out Friday, as he drove in San Francisco's first run of the game.

Even the outs off of Giants' bats were loud and solid. Surely Giants fans didn't know what to do with themselves, with this newfound wave of offensive might from a team that has scored the fewest runs in all of baseball so far this season.

So what happened?

A team that was so lifeless and dejected by its inability to muster even a single run at the week's beginning was suddenly hitting more like the red-hot team they were facing, winners of nine-straight coming into the showdown series in San Francisco.

In the search for answers, there is one correlating event: The Shake-Up.

At least that's what most are calling it. When Aaron Rowand and Miguel Tejada were handed their walking papers Wednesday morning, something changed with this club.

The Giants have now out-scored opponents 10-2 since that move. Yes, those figures were triple-checked; 10-2.

If the phrase of the day on Tuesday, following San Francisco's deflating 7-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs the night before, was "body language" after Tim Lincecum walked off the mound trying to hide his frustration at the offense's utter futility, the body language in Friday night's game against the division-leading Diamondbacks couldn't have been more different.

The Giants moved with confidence. Cody Ross, leading off the game at the plate for San Francisco, looked as if he couldn't wait to address the urgency that was a six-game deficit in September.

Following San Francisco's 6-2 victory over the D'Backs Friday, the Giants are still looking at an uphill climb, five games back of Arizona.

But they made one thing clear in the series opener: they're not going down without a fight. Maybe there is something to the idea that a new month can change everything. After going 10-18 in August, the Giants are 1-0 in September.

And what a big "one" it is.