Sometimes you just need someone to beat up on

Ah, our old friends pitching, defense and timely hitting: we'd wondered where you'd been. 

The Giants hoped to build on Matt Moore's one-hit win by beating up on an Atlanta team that entered Friday 35 games under .500. So far, so good. San Francisco opened the three-game set in style, thumping the Braves 7-0 out at The Big Phone.

Hey, remember this guy? He got outs! (SF Giants via Twitter)

Epic plays typically follow a three-act formula: set-up, distress, and triumph (think "A New Hope", "Empire" and "Jedi"). Jeff Samardzija may be headed into Act III. After opening the year 7-2, The Shark floundered (sorry) for much of the summer. Friday's stint was his fourth strong outing in a row, and his rebirth couldn't have come at a better time.

Actually, a better time would have been two months ago, but still ....

Victory helped the Giants capitalize on the misery of others, namely the front-running Dodgers. Los Angeles coughed up a lead in the ninth, then fell victim to Kris Bryant's second homer of the night as the Cubs toppled the Baby Blues 6-4 in 10 innings. As a result, San Francisco crawled back to within one game of the leaders at 70-58. 

Samardzija pitched around a pair of first inning doubles thanks to some shoddy base-running by Ender Inciarte, who opened the game with a hit then ran into an out trying to advance from second on a grounder to short. Then the Giants teed off in Braves starter Joel De La Cruz.

All the action came after two were out. Four straight hits did the trick with Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt (RBI single) and Joe Panik (two-run double) doing the honors. The visitors mixed in an error and a wild pitch for effect, and Samardzija was staked to a quick 3-0 edge.

At first he didn't seem to want it. A walk and double to start the second got Atlanta rolling, and Dansby Swanson's infield single filled the bases for De La Cruz. Belt came home with a slow hopper down the line for the first out, and Inciarte fanned to continue his nightmare start (gotta say it; it just wasn't Ender's Game). Adonis Garcia suffered a blow to his diety status, lining out to short. That kind of stuff will certainly kill a team's mojo. Ask the Giants, who've seen their share of misery over the past few weeks.

Samardzija was dancing in a mine field but had yet to suffer a scratch. Good news: no runs through two innings. Bad news: The Shark had already thrown 40 pitches. Some extra cushion might be in order.

No problem. Gorkys Hernandez, in for the gimpy Hunter Pence, singled to start the second. Angel Pagan cashed him in big time, clearing the wall in right with a two-out, two-run blast. Giants 5, Braves 0.

On this night he scored some, too! (Getty Images)

Samardzija found both trouble and fortune in the fourth. He got out of a minor jam when base runner Chase Anderson encountered a batted ball between second and third. The Giants hurler then helped himself with a double off the base of the left field wall in the bottom of the frame, coming around to score on Denard Span's two-out single.

Yea, another one. The Giants had 6-0 lead and all of the runs had scored with two outs. Meanwhile, Johnny Cueto was heard mumbling something colorful about clutch hits and run support.

Atlanta turned to reliever John Gant in the fifth, and the Giants were quite inhospitable. A Posey single set the wheels in motion for Belt, who earned his second RBI of the night on a one-out double. One-out? Way to spoil a plot thread, Brandon.

Samardzija didn't dominate so much as he caught a sweet wave and rode it to the beach. He threw seven shutout innings, scattering seven hits with six K's and three walks. That'll do when your teammates flash the leather like it was June again.

Hunter Strickland nad Corey Gearrin threw quit innings to finish a gloriously undramatic Giants victory.

The good guys pounded out 10 hits and benefitted from three walks and as many Atlanta errors. Span, Posey and Belt led the parade with two hits apiece. 

San Francisco looks to win three straight for the first time since July 10 on Saturday, returned Jake Peavy (5-9, 5.55 ERA) to the rotation for a spot start in place of the injured Mat Cain. Mike   Foltynewicz (6-5, 4.55) gets the assignment for the Braves.

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