Giants match SF-era mark with 103rd victory

SAN FRANCISCO -- The 1962 and '93 Giants have company.

With a 6-4 win over the D-backs on Tuesday night at Oracle Park, the Giants secured their 103rd win of the year, tied for the most in a season in the San Francisco era (since 1958). The victory also maintained their two-game lead over the Dodgers in the National League West with five regular-season contests to go.

• Box score

The record-tying win was the latest in a litany of accomplishments from a Giants team that few thought would contend, nevertheless rewrite the history books.

“To get to this point, it makes you proud. Really proud of our guys,” said San Francisco first baseman Wilmer Flores, who had the go-ahead RBI single in a four-run sixth. “Starting the season, we knew that we had the pieces to do it. Going out there and everybody executing, it makes you proud.”

The Giants are searching for the ending that the ‘62 and ‘93 teams didn't achieve.

The '62 team lost to the Yankees in seven games in the World Series with Willie McCovey smashing a Series-ending lineout right at Bobby Richardson, a moment Charles Schulz immortalized.

The ‘93 team missed the postseason. That year, the Braves finished with 104 victories to win the NL West Division, and with the Wild Card format yet to have been introduced, those Giants, led by manager Dusty Baker and slugger Barry Bonds, didn’t get past the regular season.

These Giants won’t face that dilemma. On Sept. 13, San Francisco became the first team to clinch a postseason berth, the earliest it’s done so in a season in franchise history. The big question the team still faces is whether its first postseason action will be in the NL Wild Card Game or the NL Division Series.

The Giants may not only end up with the San Francisco-era record, but they could also best the John McGraw-led 1904 New York Giants’ franchise-record of 106 wins. They have two more games against the D-backs, followed by a three-game home series against the Padres.

“I don’t think we’re thinking about it,” Flores said. “We just show up and win that day. We showed up today, and we got a win today.”

The primary goal for San Francisco in the coming days is to hold off Los Angeles and win the NL West, but this team also hopes to arrive to the postseason as healthy as possible. That’s far from guaranteed.

Giants manager Gabe Kapler announced after the game that Brandon Belt, who fractured his left thumb on Sunday and was subsequently placed on the injured list, will be re-evaluated in a “couple weeks,” a prognosis that likely rules out Belt for much of the postseason, if not all of it.

“It’s a bummer,” Flores said. “We don’t want to see any of our guys going down, especially one of our best hitters. It’s baseball. It’s going to happen. We’ll adjust.”

But the Giants would likely prefer that they don’t have to hold their breath, as they did on Tuesday.

Alex Dickerson was plunked in the left ankle in the sixth inning and was evaluated by a trainer before remaining in the game, though his X-rays came back negative. Thairo Estrada, who just hours before was called up to fill Belt's roster spot, was hit on the right hand in the seventh and will also get X-rays taken. Meanwhile, Tommy La Stella was removed from the game in the sixth as a precaution due to left Achilles discomfort.

“I think there’s some frustration any time we see our hitters having to get out of the way of pitches,” Kapler said. “I think there’s some frustration any time we see guys get hit like Estrada did, particularly around some other injuries that are happening. Just kind of creates a heightened level of sensitivity.”

Added Flores: “It’s definitely frustrating. You don’t want to see guys getting hit often.”