THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS WON A BASEBALL GAME! It shouldn't be this hard to win against a sub-.500 team, but the SF Giants will absolutely take the win. The Giants fell behind 4-0 early, but Joey Bart, Austin Slater, and Darin Ruf helped mount a comeback win that got a little too interesting in the 9th inning with Camilo Doval on the mound.

The Giants, who have been in free fall for a couple of weeks, desperately needed this win. With a loss, they would've fallen back to .500 for the first time since they were 1-1. Ruf's pinch-hit home run in the eighth tied the game, and astonishingly, it was the Giants' first pinch hit homer of the season. Last year, they set a major league record with 18 pinch hit home runs. Slater had a big bunt hit ahead of Ruf and a huge bases-loaded double down the right field line in the 9th inning. The Giants looked like they might actually win easily, but Doval made things interesting. He allowed three walks and a single before being replaced by Sam Long, who struck out Jordan Luplow on three pitches.

Despite this horrid stretch, the Giants are 41-39 and just one game out of the NL's final playoff spot. They have a big opportunity in their upcoming four-game series against the Padres, who are also struggling right now. Carlos Rodón and Logan Webb will pitch in the series, and those guys have been as good as any duo in the National League so far in 2022. But the defense (Tommy La Stella and David Villar made mistakes in last night's win) will have to be better if the SF Giants want to have any success in 2022, and the bullpen will also have to step up. The trade deadline is less than a month away, and it remains to be seen whether the Giants will add, subtract, or both. They clearly have needs.

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The best daily San Francisco Giants podcast. Whether the Giants are winning championships or retooling for another title run, Locked On Giants host Ben Kaspick—a lifelong Giants fan and former contributor for RotoGraphs and Beyond the Box Score—breaks down every game, rumor, and transaction in a way that's data-driven and rational but also simple, passionate, and accessible to all.

Follow Ben Kaspick on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the San Francisco Giants and talking with fans.

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