MLB

Giants have no plans to let up after winning race to 50-win mark

By Sports Desk June 27, 2021

The San Francisco Giants have no designs on slowing down after their walk-off win over the Oakland Athletics saw them become the first team to reach 50 wins in MLB this season.

Competing in a stacked National League West division with the defending World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres, the Giants have dramatically upset the odds.

They own the best record in baseball and Curt Casali's double in the 10th secured a 6-5 extra-innings triumph against Bay Area rivals the Athletics, moving them to 50-26.

Through 76 games, that is the second-most wins the Giants have recorded since moving to San Francisco from New York in 1958.

In 1993, the Giants won 51 of their first 76 games, but missed out on the four-team playoffs despite a 103-59 record.

Owning a 4.5-game lead over the Dodgers and with the Padres just a game a further back, a Giants team that was without star veterans Buster Posey and Brandon Belt due to injuries against Oakland can ill-afford a drop-off in their excellent form.

 

Gabe Kapler's team have won nine of their last 10 games and hero of the hour Casali, the backup catcher to Posey, insists they are determined to keep surprising.

"It's fun to come to the ballpark. I can't wait to show up to the field every day," said Casali. 

"It's really special to be a part of. Fifty wins is a lot more than people thought we'd get at this point and we have plans to keep going."

The Giants' resurgence comes after four successive seasons in which they missed the playoffs and has come about partly because of their remarkable success hitting the long ball.

Indeed, the Giants have hit 114 home runs, tied for the league lead with the Toronto Blue Jays.

 

San Francisco's best mark for home runs in the 2010s was 167 in 2019 and they hit 81 in the shortened 60-game 2020 regular season.

On course to smash that 2019 tally, the Giants are one of the most entertaining teams in the game and, though it remains to be seen whether they can hold off the Dodgers and Padres long term, Kapler's men are ensuring they enjoy the moment.

"We're just rolling right now and it feels really good," added Casali.

San Francisco will look to complete a three-game sweep of the Athletics on Sunday.

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