What we learned as Wood outduels Snell in close win vs. Padres

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SAN DIEGO -- The start of Juan Soto's first full week in San Diego was a party. The newest star in San Diego received several standing ovations from the 40,686 at Petco Park, including one when he waved that he was okay after slamming into the wall to rob Evan Longoria of extra bases. 

But the Giants made sure the party never got too rowdy. 

Alex Wood dominated and Camilo Doval got through the heart of the rebuilt Padres order in the ninth as the Giants won 1-0 in a game that had playoff vibes at times. With three straight wins, they're just 5 1/2 games behind the Padres, who have lost five straight.

The play of the night came in the bottom of the seventh, when Luis González, Brandon Crawford and Joey Bart teamed up on a relay that cut Brandon Drury down at the plate and kept the Giants ahead. 

Drury was on first when Ha-Seong Kim doubled into the left field corner and third base coach Matt Williams waved him home. Crawford threw an 88.2 mph strike to the plate and Bart grabbed the short hop and quickly put down the tag. Drury was ruled safe but Bart immediately pointed to the dugout and a lengthy review went the Giants' way. 

Third Time's The Charm

The Giants have tried to limit the number of times Wood sees a lineup a third time, and the numbers back the strategy up. Opponents have raised their OPS about 300 points the third time through, but Wood was at just 71 pitches through five two-hit innings, so he jogged back out for the top of the order. Jurickson Profar flied out, Soto struck out and Manny Machado popped up. 

Wood got the first out of the seventh before being lifted following a single. In 6 1/3 innings, he allowed just three hits, walked none and struck out five. 

Longo's Return

Longoria isn't 100 percent healthy, but he's close enough that the Giants are going to try and sneak some DH starts in while he clears the final hurdles in his rehab from a hamstring strain. It paid off on Monday.

Longoria hit cleanup and led off the fourth with a single, the first of three straight. The Giants, as they have done so often lately, squandered most of the opportunity, but Longoria did score on a sacrifice fly. He smoked a ball the other way in the eighth, but Soto ran it down as he ran into the wall. 

RELATED: MLB Power Rankings: Gap widens between Giants, Dodgers

Picking Up Speed

Bart's biggest contribution was his slick tag at the plate, but he scorched a single to left in his first at-bat and then walked his second time up, continuing a recent hot streak at the plate. 

The latest solid night at the plate got Bart's OPS up to .698, and it was briefly at .702. He had not been above .700 since May 16, and he was down to .596 when the Giants optioned him back to Triple-A the first week of June.

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