Longoria homers in return to Oracle Park, but SF Giants get last laugh against NL West leaders

With 11th win in past 12 games, the Giants (43-33) pulled within 2½ games of the D-backs (46-31) for first place in the NL West.

SAN FRANCISCO — Evan Longoria, who called Oracle Park home for five seasons, hammered a 436-foot home run onto the netting in center field on the second pitch he saw Friday night in his return with the Arizona Diamondbacks. His former teammates took the slugging from there, though.

A line drive shot from rookie catcher Patrick Bailey, who hadn’t played above High-A during Longoria’s tenure in a Giants uniform, put the finishing touches on a five-run sixth inning that proved to be the difference in the San Francisco’s 8-5 win to start a three-game weekend series against the leaders of the National League West.

With their 11th win in their past 12 games, the Giants (43-33) pulled within 2½ games of the D-backs (46-31) for the division lead. Brandon Crawford made a sensational diving play behind the bag at second base to record the final out, clinching Camilo Doval’s National League-leading 21st save.

“We’ve got a fun group in here,” said starter Logan Webb, who settled in after Longoria’s home run to limit Arizona to three earned runs over seven innings. “We all have kind of a chip on our shoulder, just to prove something. It’s fun to be a part of.”

After scoring at least seven runs in seven of the first eight games of their eventual 10-game winning streak, the Giants had been held to four or fewer over their past three contests, including a shutout loss Thursday that snapped the streak. Michael Conforto drove in four runs by himself Friday, leading a balanced attack with a pair of two-RBI doubles, while Bailey, LaMonte Wade Jr. (in his first game back from a brief absence due to side tightness) and J.D. Davis all contributed multiple hits.

Conforto went the other way on a 3-0 fastball to get the Giants on the board with a two-run double into left-center in the third, then traded places with Blake Sabol, whose two-bagger bounced over the wall. In the sixth, Conforto came to the plate as the first batter against lefty reliever Joe Mantiply, after ineffective starter Zach Davies allowed the first three batters to reach base. He ripped a curveball for a line drive into the right field corner, driving home Joc Pederson and Davis, who doubled home the first run of the inning.

“That’s when you know you’re locked in,” manager Gabe Kapler said of Conforto. “When you’re hitting all pitches and you’re hitting them line to line.”

Conforto’s four RBIs were his most in a game since signing a two-year, $36 million free-agent contract this past offseason.

“It felt good to contribute tonight,” said Conforto, who had been 0-for-his-past-17 before his 3-for-4 effort Friday. “When I’m taking fastballs out over the plate and I’m hitting line drives the other way, it’s definitely where I need to be. … The rest of the guys did a great job, too. Top to bottom, the lineup did a great job at getting on base. Just coming through in big moments, that’s what our whole success has been about.”

Bailey’s homer, which traveled 399 feet to left field and made it 8-4, was his fourth since being called up, driving home his 21st and 22nd runs. Only two Giants rookies have ever driven in more runs in their first 27 games in the majors: Willie McCovey (24) and Orlando Cepeda (23). Asked if he would like to know who he was in the company of, Bailey smiled and responded, “nah.”

But his manager and teammates did the talking.

“It’s about as good of a start as we could’ve hoped for,” Kapler said. “I think more powerful than anything else is the confidence it builds for Pat.”

“He’s just been the complete package for us,” Conforto said. “I can’t say enough good things.”

In 27 games since being called up, Bailey matched his home run total from 28 games at Double- and Triple-A this season. Three of them have come against left-handed pitching, more than he had hitting from the right side of the plate than in all three of his minor-league seasons. He credited an adjustment he made soon after arriving, “where I was just like, let’s put my foot down, take my hands straight to the ball and see what happens.

“That’s been probably the biggest difference so far,” he said. “Obviously we worked hard on it this offseason but still struggled this year in the minor leagues. Finding more barrels but still either pop ups or ground balls. So there were probably things behind the scenes that were improving. Then just since coming up here, I’ve tried to simplify everything I do.”

“We always thought that he had power and a good approach against lefties,” Kapler said. “Although it’s a little nontraditional, he’s got a very short right-handed swing. It’s very direct and to the baseball.”

Longoria’s second-inning homer came against a misplaced sinker from Webb, whose locker last season was only a few stalls away in the home clubhouse here. Perhaps summoning some revenge-game strength, the homer was Longoria’s third-longest outside of Coors Field since 2019. The broadcast cameras apparently missed Webb playfully flipping the bird to his former teammate as he rounded the bases.

“He wouldn’t even look at me,” Webb laughed. “He’s gonna give me (crap) forever. Forever.”

But, at the plate as the tying run with two outs and two on in the eighth, Longoria watched Tyler Rogers’ slider scrape the bottom of the strike zone for the third out of the inning.

The Giants were clearly happy to see their former teammate, who may have earned some bragging rights with his home run but not quite the same as with a win. During a replay review in the first inning to determine whether Joc Pederson had beaten out a double-play ground ball, Pederson walked across the infield to chat with Longoria at third base.

Following Longoria’s homer, Webb settled in to complete seven innings for the ninth time in his past 11 starts. Evidenced by Longoria’s home run, his sinker wasn’t working well, but in the words of his catcher, who was again leading the pitch calling, “he did a really good job of executing the changeup and slider … it’s funny, he throws seven innings with three earned runs and you think he might not have had his best stuff. It’s so impressive.”

Crossing the century mark for the season, Webb leads the majors in innings pitched (105⅔) while holding the eighth-best ERA in the NL (3.16).

“The innings Logan has provided for us have been equally important for our bullpen as to our team in general and his own stat line,” Kapler said. “He’s covered a ton of innings for us and in large part is why our bullpen (which leads MLB with a 2.49 ERA since May 1) is in such good shape today.”

“I feel like every time I’m just trying to go out there and give as many innings as I can,” Webb said. “Hopefully every time I go out there, just trying to give the bullpen a blow every once in a while. Those guys throw a lot of innings. Just trying to make sure I have their backs as well.”