The Giants have done something in this series that they have not done since June 8th. The first, the Giants won at least three games in a row; the second, they have won back-to-back series. This now makes the third series win the Giants have had this month, and they already have a better record than they did last July.
On the back of some timely and even explosive offense on Friday and Saturday, the Giants took the first two games of the series, albeit Friday was much easier to close out than Saturday. Crawford and Sandoval continued the power steak on Friday, to the tune of a 2-run homerun and 3-run homerun respectively, and shut the door on the Marlins by winning 9-1. Two doubles from Morse and one from Pence also helped the Giants get back on track offensively. On Saturday, Belt, Sandoval and Pence each contributed a double to help put 5 runs on the board. The Giants also capitalized on some bad defense from the Marlins, and would eventually win 5-3.
Bumgarner and Hudson were able to take care of business against even the tough hitters the Marlins presented. Unfortunately, Lincecum did not fair so well against the Marlins in the final game. He was having a little trouble locating the ball, and left an 0-2 mistake to McGehee which he turned into a 2 run shot, who is ideally one of the more clutch hitters in the national league. The Giants would come back and tie on a Posey double, but a wild pitch in the 7th from a gassed Lincecum would be the deciding mistake as the Giants drop the third game 3-2.
While the Giants were able to keep a lot of the scoring at bay, they still had their troubles against all-star Giancarlo Stanton, who got two home runs in the series. Luckily for the Giants, the home runs did not cut their lead by much. Unfortunately, there is a bigger problem looming on the horizon for both teams, more particularly on the health side of things.
Brandon Belt on Saturday during batting practice was hit in the face by a baseball, and during his run home on a wild pitch he began to experience dizziness and was taken out of the game. It was revealed that he suffered a concussion from the face hit, and he will be placed on the disabled list as a result. Marlin's starter Henderson Alvarez also suffered an injury as a Joe Panik comebacker struck him in the shin. It is unclear on the status of the right-hander, and the Marlins can not stand to lose another solid starter.
With that being said, the Giants have gained two games on the Dodgers placing them at the top of the NL West, pending the result of their Sunday night game against St. Louis. The Giants will now travel to Philadelphia for a 4 game set against the Phillies.