Crawford busts slump in Giants' 'best overall game' yet

SAN FRANCISCO -- It’s been a rough start to the season for Brandon Crawford and the Giants, but both took steps toward breaking out of their early slumps on Saturday afternoon.

Crawford launched a three-run home run off left-hander David Peterson in the first inning to spur the Giants to a 7-4 win over the Mets at Oracle Park, securing only their second victory in their last nine games.

The Giants (7-13) entered Saturday with a meager .575 OPS against lefties, which ranked 29th in the Majors, but they struck early against Peterson, loading the bases with one out on first-inning singles by Thairo Estrada and Michael Conforto and a walk by Wilmer Flores.

David Villar followed with a hard-hit drive into the left-center field gap, but he had to settle for a sacrifice fly after Mets center fielder Brandon Nimmo sprinted in to make a diving catch for the second out of the inning. That brought up Crawford, who entered Saturday mired in an 0-for-14 funk that dropped his batting average to .151 with a .533 OPS through 15 games this year.

Crawford worked a 3-2 count before crushing a hanging slider from Peterson over the right-field arcade for a three-run blast that extended the Giants’ lead to 4-0. It was Crawford’s third home run of the year and his first off a lefty.

“I think he wanted that,” ace right-hander Logan Webb said. “He needed that. The whole team needed that.”

Crawford was a bit more measured in assessing the magnitude of his homer, but he acknowledged that it was a welcome development for the Giants, who had scored only nine runs against the first seven left-handed starters they faced this year.

“This early in the season, it’s hard to say that we need anything, but the losses have been piling on, so it was definitely nice,” Crawford said.

The early run support proved more than enough for Webb, who spun seven innings of two-run ball to snap his personal four-game skid and earn his first win of the season. Webb allowed five hits while walking one and striking out eight in his first home start since signing a five-year, $90 million extension with the Giants last week.

Flores added a solo shot off Peterson in the fifth, while two other former Mets -- Darin Ruf and Conforto -- also drove in runs to help San Francisco improve to 6-6 in day games this year.

“I thought that was the best overall game that we’ve played,” Webb said. “That’s the brand of baseball we’re trying to play. That’s Giants baseball. That’s what we’re trying to do. I know it’s been tough lately, but we know we’re capable of that.”

Crawford, who is in the final season of the two-year, $32 million extension he signed in 2021, sat out Friday night’s game with rib discomfort, an injury he sustained after diving for a ball on Thursday, but he used the time off to continue working in the batting cage and simplify his swing, which he believes helped lay the groundwork for his big hit against Peterson.

“One day is a nice little refresher,” Crawford said. “Really, I think it was more some adjustments I made last game in the cages, just working on trying some stuff. Honestly, I would have rather probably played after doing those things to kind of keep it rolling. At the same time, a day off when you’re not going to get in the game, it is a nice mental break.”

Crawford, the longest-tenured Giant and the last remaining link to the championship era, has been a bellwether for the team’s success in recent years, so the club will need him to continue to produce and serve as a catalyst for the offense moving forward.

Manager Gabe Kapler has insisted that he isn’t too concerned about the Giants’ slow start to the season, but he said it was encouraging to see a key player like Crawford step up and provide a much-needed lift for the club on Saturday.

“Really rewarding, especially left-on-left,” Kapler said. “I wasn’t sure how he was going to feel after diving on his rib. He’s actually one of the tougher players I’ve been around. He comes to the ballpark every day ready to play. When he’s not right, you really know it. In this particular case, he feels good to go. Whenever he feels good to go, we feel confident in his ability on both sides of the ball.”