Panik Attack! (we waited 38 games to use that)

Double plays. They're great when they work for you, they suck when they go against you. Either way, like tequila shots or Russell Brand movies, you can only survive so many.

The twin killing worked both for and against the Giants on Friday. There were enough to give one as a promo to the fist 5,000 fans under 14 (okay, really the teams combined for seven) but in the end it was one big swing of the bat that propelled the Giants to a 3-1 win.

Panik accepts congrats from those whom he plated, Shakespeare. (AP Photo)

This is a season series that screams for corporate sponsorship from Hilton Honors or Starwood Preferred: all six games have gone to the visiting team.

Arizona's Shelby Miller came in as the proud holder of  just one win and an ERA to rival Jake Peavy's. Early on San Francisco made him look like a Cy Young candidate, if not Cy Young himself. 

The Giants hit into double plays in three of the first four innings, making life easy on the struggling right-hander. He pounded the zone, throwing 54 of his first 75 pitches for strikes. The result: four hits and a lot of 'at em' balls before the Giants had a brief but definitive breakthrough.

Miller was also a factor offensively. Giants starter Jeff Samardzija had been every bit as efficient as Miller, but left a pitch over the plate to his counterpart in the home half of the fifth. Miller tripled over Denard Span to start the frame, and Jean Segura quickly singled him home with the first run of the night. 

It looked like more "buzzard's luck" for Samardzija, who  had also pitched well in his last outing but got no help. And then ... Boom!

Angel Pagan, newly returned from injury, singled to start the sixth. Span did likewise. Miller then uncorked a wild pitch to move the runners 90 feet that didn't matter a farthing. 

Remember the ball Joe Panik launched on Thursday? Friday's was hit a lot harder. His fifth homer of the season and second in three days gave the Giants a 3-1 edge. So much for the "shutdown inning". Just like that, Miller was done.

Offensively, so were the Giants. That three-batter outburst was the whole enchilada. It was enough.

Turning two; there was a lot of that going on. (AP Photo)

Samardzija showed he could throw the two-ball as well. Double plays in the fifth and seventh helped him keep the pitch count low enough to throw a full eight innings despite allowing eight hits (3K, 0 BB). 

As we noted, double plays suck, but only when they work against you -- as they did in both the eighth and ninth innings. 

The Giants wound up hitting into five.  

Manager Bruce Bochy went to Josh Osich to get the first out of the ninth, then called upon Senor Snippy. Santiago Casilla, who managed to finish the contest without throwing a fit and the Giants had a win.

At 20-18, San Francisco owns a three-game win streaak and sits atop the NL West in tandem with LA, an 8-4 winner over St. Louis. Colorado toppled the Mets to stay 1 1/2 games back.

The Giants look to make it four in a row on Saturday, sending Peavy (1-4, 8.47 ERA) to the bump against Patrick Corbin (1-3, 4.12 ERA). Oh God.

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