PHOENIX -- Brandon Crawford probably is among the few Giants wishing it were April.
San Francisco's shortstop has escaped the batting slump that shackled him for much of the season. Currently, "B-Craw" (the nickname he's wearing on his Players Weekend jersey) resembles the dynamo who won the 2015 Silver Slugger Award as the National League's top offensive performer at his position. He extended his hitting streak to nine games with a 3-for-4 performance Friday in the Giants' 4-3 loss to the D-backs.
Crawford is batting .452 (14-for-31) with two home runs, five doubles and six RBIs during his streak. In Friday's series opener against the D-backs, he doubled twice off their ace right-hander, Zack Greinke.
"It's good to see him driving the ball," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Crawford.

Figures provided by Statcast™ reflect Crawford's surge. In his previous eight games entering Friday, his average exit velocity on line drives hit off fastballs was 93.1 mph, compared with 89.9 from June 21-Aug. 15. His rate of hard-hit balls jumped from 30.6 to 40.9.
Crawford offered a one-word explanation for his turnaround: balance.
"I feel like I'm able to sit on my back leg and react to any pitch right now," said Crawford, who's batting .241 overall with a team-high 63 RBIs.
Finding the right balance at the plate sounds simple but often isn't. That's why Major League pitchers remain employed.
"If it were that easy, I would have been doing it all year," Crawford said. "It's just one of those stretches that hopefully will last a little while. You never know. But for the last week or so, I've been feeling pretty good."