Lewis Brinson caught all of this one as he lined it straight to center field to tie the game against the Dodgers. This was his first home run for the Giants.
LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers are on pace for 111 wins and have a 19-game lead in the National League West. A year after failing in their quest to chase the Giants down, they can clinch the division as early as this weekend. They are one of the best regular-season teams in MLB history, and every opponent that walks into Dodger Stadium knows how difficult the task is.
How do you combat that? Sometimes it's best not to know too much.
Lewis Brinson has been a Giant for less than a week, which means he wasn't part of the eight straight losses to the rival. In fact, he didn't even know about the skid, and on Monday night, ignorance was bliss.
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SIGN UP HERE Brinson hit two of the five Giants homers, sparking a 7-4 win that was the fourth straight for a team that is starting to find its groove again. Afterward, Brinson shrugged when asked about the long losing streak to the Dodgers.
"I had no idea," he said. "It's over now, so it doesn't matter."
It's over in large part because of Brinson, who hit leadoff on Monday night and smoked a pair of homers. The five for the team tied a franchise record at Dodger Stadium.
"Obviously the home runs were big," manager Gabe Kapler said. "They add a lot of fun to the game."
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When Brinson showed up at Oracle Park last week, that was the word he mentioned. Asked what he would bring, he said he likes to have fun, and the Giants could certainly use that. But they also need right-handed power and Brinson certainly has the natural talent to be that guy.
The center fielder nearly homered in his first at-bat but yanked a loud liner just foul. In the third, he straightened it up and went dead center for a two-run shot. In the ninth, he hit another homer to the big part of the yard, padding the lead.
"(The foul ball) definitely helped me tell my body, there's the sweet spot," Brinson said. "It was a great night, man. We got a win against a great Dodgers team. I obviously hit two homers, which is awesome, but we got a win. We've got to keep this winning streak going."
The big night paced a new-look, right-handed lineup that terrorized lefty Andrew Heaney. The Giants hit four homers in a 20-minute span in the middle of the game, with J.D. Davis, Thairo Estrada and David Villar joining Brinson. On one of the hottest nights of the year, they smartly got the ball in the air.
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The power led to a fourth straight win for a club that previously had lost seven straight, falling just about 100 percent out of the playoff race. With nothing to lose, the Giants have righted the ship, although it still is nearly underwater. They have 29 games left and a one percent chance of making the postseason, according to FanGraphs, but nobody in the clubhouse is even talking about that anymore.
The focus is on finishing strong and having fun. Right now, the Giants are doing both.
"This has been a really fun four games," said Villar, who hit his second career homer. "It's fun when you win, especially here in L.A."
