Biblical plague descends on desert; Peavy wins

Planets aligned, gravitational forces were in flux, and starting pitcher Jake Peavy gave the Giants six solid innings on Saturday night. He was immediately rushed to a Phoenix-area hospital for observation.

Strange sights in Phoenix as Peavy pitches well. (AP Photo) 

In scientific terms: "stuff happens".

Some of that "stuff" also happened to a Giants bullpen that managed to gag away Peavy's effort before San Francisco bounced back to topple Arizona by a 5-3 score.

Despite some individual efforts worthy of a "Parental Advisory" label, the Giants (21-18) as a unit have won four consecutive decisions for the first time this season. They remain tied with The Hated Dodgers atop the NL West. 

LA (20-17), winner of three straight, tripped up St. Louis 5-1 down at Chavez Latrine.

Peavy, a weak link in the Giants rotation all season, threw six innings of three-hit ball while striking out five and walking a pair. The effort, uh, lowered (?) his gaudy ERA to 7.43 but failed to earn him his second win of 2016 despite Santiago Casilla not being allowed near this one.

Peavy started shakily but gained some momentum as the game trudged along. He surrendered what proved to be his only run of the game in the Arizona second, and it wasn't entirely his fault. 

Third baseman Matt Duffy gets dinged for the Brandon Drury grounder he played off the heel of his glove. Peavy, whom we greatly distrust anyway, issued the walk to Chiris Herman that preceded it and hung the breaking ball immediately after that Chris Owings ripped into the left field corner for RBI double. Other than that he managed to avoid trouble.

Yeah we were shocked, too.

Hero of the night; Posey's ninth-inning drive wins it. (AP Photo)

The run erased an early Giants lead, forged when Denard Span opened the contest with a triple and scored on Joe Panik's soft single. It was the sixth consecutive Giants run driven in by the second baseman, and may have help dull the pain of the double plays he grounded into during his next two at-bats. Yep, that disturbing trend continued.

Perhaps some providence contributed to the Giants retaking the lead in the fourth. Chase Field's retractable roof was closed for the first 3 1/2 innings due to the triple-digit Arizona heat. Opening it between halves of the fourth perhaps gave a ball a bit more carry. After Buster Posey led off with a single, Hunter Pence took an awkward swing and bounced a pitch off the top of the left field wall and into the seats for a two-run homer - the 200th of his career.

It stayed 3-1 through six, then the relief corps provided no relief whatsoever and ensured Peavy's best outing in about a year and a half didn't go on the plus side of his ledger. Relievers Derek Law and Hunter Strickland surrendered single runs in the seventh and eighth respectively, and Strickland actually vultured a win when the offense bailed him out in the ninth.

The rally that provided the game-winner was typical of these Giants. It was Chinese water torture, only at the end someone hits you with the ice bucket challenge.

Conor Gillaspie's one-out single started the demise of Arizona reliever Daniel Hudson, unscored upon in his last 10 appearances. Span was hit by a pitch and Panik walked to load the bases with one out. Matt Duffy failed to plate the run, grounding into a first-to-home force out, but Posey one-hopped the center field wall for a two-run ground-rule double and a 5-3 lead.

Cory Gearrin allowed one hit in the ninth but got his second career save.

The Giants outhit Arizona 12-8, led by Span's four-hit night. Posey and Kelby Tomlinson each had two hits.

Matt Cain (0-5, 6.69 ERA) gets a chance to avenge a four-game sweep by Arizona earlier this year at AT&T Park, taking on Rubby De La Rosa (4-4, 3.93) in some Sunday afternoon action. Cain is coming off his best outing, giving up one earn run over 7 1/3 five days ago against Colorado. De La Rosa has also worked from the pen this year but is making his seventh start.

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