So, uhhh, the 2021 San Francisco Giants might be pretty good.
For the second straight day, the Giants lineup peppered the arcade in right field, and for the second time in a week, Kevin Gausman outdueled a San Diego Padres right-hander who has gotten more headlines nationally. The Giants got to Joe Musgrove early and pulled away for a 7-1 win, clinching a series against the Padres for the second time in three tries.
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The Giants improved to 20-13 on the season and 5-3 against the Padres. They opened up a 2 1/2 game lead in the NL West standings.
Those are three fun facts, here are three more:
Heating Up
At 79 degrees, this was the hottest game of the year at Oracle Park, and Gausman appeared to be fully enjoying it. Gausman sat at 97 mph in the first inning and hit 98.6 mph with one fastball, his season-best by nearly a full mile per hour.
San Francisco Giants
Manny Machado had a hard single off Brandon Crawford's outstretched glove in the first but Gausman didn't allow another hit until Jake Cronenworth's single in the fifth, which led to a run. The Padres got a leadoff single in the sixth, but all that led to was one of Gausman's best stretches as a Giant.
With Fernando Tatis Jr. dancing around on first base, Gausman struck out Trent Grisham, Manny Machado and Eric Hosmer. Machado looked at a perfect two-strike 96 mph fastball on the outside corner that got Padres manager Jayce Tingler tossed for arguing. Hosmer swung through 98 mph.
Gausman was charged with one run on three hits. He struck out seven while lowering his ERA to 1.97.
Brandon Bombs
For the second time in five games, both Brandons went deep. Crawford hit a three-run shot off Musgrove in the second inning that gave the Giants a nice cushion and Belt added on by smoking a low curveball into the arcade in the fifth.
Both Brandons are at seven homers, putting both on pace to surpass 20 for the season. Crawford has only done that once and Belt has never done it. Combined, Buster Posey and the Brandons -- the three longest-tenured Giants -- have 22 homers through 35 games.
No Longer No-No Joe
Musgrove struck out seven, but also allowed four runs on eight hits and didn't make it past the fifth. He was one of the National League's best pitchers in April and threw a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers, but he has had his issues with the Giants.
Musgrove, acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates in the offseason, has allowed nine earned runs in 10 innings against the Giants over the last week. He has a 1.24 ERA in five starts against the rest of the league.
*BONUS MUSTACHE MAY FACT
Austin Slater entered as a pinch-hitter and had an RBI single that made it 5-1 and then a two-run blast to dead center that pushed the lead to six runs. The power of the stache.
Slater's blast traveled 456 feet.