Giants-Diamondbacks preview
PHOENIX -- Arizona is known for its spas.
The Giants have found one at Chase Field.
A visit there always seems to shake the Giants out of whatever ails them.
San Francisco clinched its 13th series victory in their last 14 series in Arizona with an 11-3 victory in the second game of the three-game set Saturday. The series concludes when Matt Moore opposes Zack Greinke on Sunday afternoon.
The Giants did things the easy way Saturday.
After playing one-run games in seven of their last eight -- and losing four of them -- the Giants broke out with 19 hits while scoring in double digits for the third time since the last week of June.
Every Giants starter got a hit, including right-hander Johnny Cueto, who won his 15th game but got only his second victory since the All-Star break.
"It was good to see a breakout like that," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said.
"A lot of guys had good days. The heart of the order. The back end of the order. They swung the bats well, and then you look at what Johnny did. He had great stuff, great command of all his pitchers. It was good to give him a break, too. A great game for us.
"Throughout the lineup, somebody did something today to help the cause.
The D-backs might want to pay particular attention to Hunter Pence in the series finale. Pence is one of his patented runs over the last 2 1/2 weeks, and it reached a peak in the first two games in Arizona.
Pence has reached base in 10 of 11 plate appearances in the first two games of the series, with seven hits including a home run Saturday and three walks. He has scored four runs in each of the first two games of the series
He is hitting .382 in his last 17 games and is hitting .287 in 33 games since coming off the disabled list because of a severe hamstring strain. Pence has played only 85 games this season because of the hamstring, but it is quite a few more than the 52 he was limited to because of assorted injuries in 2015.
"Just trying to have good at-bats and feel good. Go out and compete to win," Pence said.
"He's swinging well right now," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said of Pence. "He's getting on base. Missed a lot of time. You miss so much time, it takes a while to get your timing. He's doing a good job now two-strike hitting, too."
The Giants (76-65) kept pace with the Dodgers in the NL West with their victory Saturday and remain four games behind in the division race and one game ahead in the NL wild card chase. They play the Dodgers six times in the final 13 games of the regular season that ends with a three-game set at AT&T Park from Sept. 30-Oct. 2.
Greinke is 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA in three starts against the Giants this season, and the loss was the first one to the Giants in his 13 starts. He was 7-0 against them entering this season. Part of his success has come in an ability to break even with Pence, who is hitting .241 against Greinke with two homers and four RBI in 32 plate appearances.
