What we learned as Giants beat D-backs to snap losing streak

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All it took to get the Giants back on track was another shot at the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The lineup looked a lot livelier on the second night at Chase Field, with 14 hits -- including three long homers -- leading the Giants to an 11-4 win that snapped their season-long four-game losing streak.

Four different Giants had multiple hits, including newcomer Thairo Estrada, who already had a pair of hits and an RBI in his first start before hitting his first career grand slam with two outs in the eighth inning. LaMonte Wade Jr. added three RBI and hit a long homer to right that was his seventh in just 104 at-bats. 

The Giants had struggled to sustain rallies over the previous four games, but they had no issues on Friday, and the effort allowed them to hit the halfway point of the season in first place in the NL West. They are on pace for 102 wins and 242 homers.

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RISPy Business

With two on and no outs in the second inning, the Giants finally got their first hit with a runner in scoring position on this road trip. There was just one problem: It didn't score a run.

Estrada lined a single to right but Wilmer Flores was on second and he has been hobbled the last couple of weeks. Flores held up at third but the Giants did end up scoring two runs in the inning on a sacrifice fly and Mike Yastrzemski's grounder through the right side of the infield that first baseman Christian Walker didn't go after for some reason. 

The Giants were 1-for-27 with runners in scoring position during the four-game losing streak but went 6-for-14 on Friday. 

Rewarding the Faith

Alex Dickerson was 0-for-12 with six strikeouts during the first three games of this trip but manager Gabe Kapler stuck with him in the cleanup spot. In his second at-bat Friday, Dickerson hit a no-doubter to right for his seventh homer of the year. 

The blast was Dickerson's first since he homered in back-to-back games the first week of June, but right as he was starting to heat up he went on the IL with a back injury. With Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt on the IL and not coming back anytime soon, the Giants could really use one of those Dickerson hot streaks. They don't have many great options to replace him in the heart of their order. 

Short Work

A pretty good starting pitching matchup didn't last long, as Zac Gallen left with a hamstring injury in the third inning and Alex Wood's high pitch count turned a promising night into a five-and-dive.

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Gallen was one of the best pitchers in the National League last season, but the Giants have seen him well in two meetings this year. Five of their first 10 hitters went to a full count and the Giants scored three runs off Gallen in two-plus innings on five hits and three walks. 

Wood was sharp early and then ran into trouble in the fourth, just barely holding the lead he had been given. But he made enough pitches when he had to, striking out eight in his five innings. Wood lost the feel for his slider in June, but he had eight swinging strikes with the pitch on Friday.

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