Grant McCray beats Padres, 6-3

With two home runs and five RBI, Grant McCray was a one-man offense in the Giants’ 6-3 win over the Padres

The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres tonight, 6-3. This was thanks almost entirely to tonight’s episode of The Grant McCray Show. But more on that later.

Logan Webb had a decent start, allowing three runs on ten hits with three strikeouts and two walks over six innings. But it could have been quite a bit worse.

Thinks started off rough for Webb, in the bottom of the first inning he allowed a single to Luis Arraez, before Jurickson Profar followed that up with a single of his own. Arraez took third, and the Giants used their challenge on the tag play, but were ultimately unsuccessful as the safe call was upheld.

Webb walked Jake Cronenworth to load the bases for Manny Machado, who hit a first-pitchy single to score Arraez. Xander Bogaerts then hit into a double play that allowed Profar to score, to give the Padres a two-run lead to start the game.

That wouldn’t last long, however. In the top of the second, Patrick Bailey hit a line drive single down the right field line, followed by a first-pitch single from Brett Wisely on a ground ball up the middle. And that’s when McCray put on the Infinity Gauntlet and got things started.

McCray saw an 88mph hanging slider that he sent on a ride so deep into right field that it looked like it was going to hit off of the second deck for his fourth home run of the year, giving the Giants a 3-2 lead.

After the game, McCray mentioned that his game plan for tonight was to not swing at any sliders, but added that he had to capitalize on the mistake by Padres’ starter Dylan Cease. And capitalize he did.

He kept it up in the fourth inning, in a slightly different manner. Bailey walked, followed by a single from Tyler Fitzgerald that shot between the infielders before shooting out into left field, and Wisely took a four-pitch walk to load the bases for the man of the hour.

While it would have been incredibly on brand for this game for him to hit a grand slam, he grounded into a double play instead. But it was enough to score Bailey and add onto the Giants’ lead.

Things got dicey for Webb again in the fifth, as Tyler Wade hit a ground rule double to start things off. A sac bunt from Mason McCoy advanced him to third with one out, before Arraez knocked him in with a single. Things seemed to go from bad to worse, as Cronenworth and Machado both singled to load the bases for Bogaerts. Thankfully, Webb got him to ground out to end the inning and get out of the jam relatively unscathed.

Camilo Doval entered to pitch the eighth inning and impressed, getting Machado, Bogaerts and David Peralta to go down in order, striking out Machado and Peralta.

Bailey took a leadoff walk to start things off in the ninth inning, advancing to second on a wild pitch. And then McCray came to bat with two outs. Not content to leave things to chance with only a one-run lead, he did what he does best. Hit dingers and chew bubblegum. And he was all out of bubblegum.

He saw a 92mph four seam fastball from Yuki Matsui and sent it on an even longer ride, this time to right center field.

Ryan Walker kept things a little interesting in the bottom of the inning, allowing a leadoff double to Fernando Tatis, Jr., but the Padres went down in order after that, leaving the Giants with a win and a much-needed morale boost.

And in my personal opinion, the rest of the Giants better be buying McCray a steak dinner at the nicest restaurant in San Diego as we speak.