*Spoiler alert*

The Giants are finding ways to win when it matters the least to them and the most to their opponents

The Giants managed only three hits in the series finale against the Royals on Sunday.

If this was May or June or July…or just any month this season, those three hits would have served as a reminder of the lineup’s ineptitude, their eager capitulation to opposing arms, a desperate paddling up-stream. But in September, specifically late September, specifically after being officially eliminated from postseason play when none of these games “matter”, these three hits became the best kind of hits: the ones that come in the same inning and score runs (plural) and were, in the words of base ball’s famous enunciator William Keeler, hit where the people are not.

The Giants hadn’t won a game with three or fewer hits (and 0 home runs) since June of 2021, but it ended up being an abundance. Their 2-0 victory certainly made life more complicated for the free-falling Royals who have now lost six in a row and are holding onto the third AL Wild Card seed by a game.

The game-defining rally started innocuously enough with Jerar Encarnacion singing a one-out, 115 MPH single to center. Grant McCray then drove him from first on liner into the wide-open right-center gap of Kauffmann Stadium’s spacious outfield. Encarnacion lumbered around the bases and scored ahead of the relay home as the speedy McCray cruised into third.

Of course, provided an opportunity to score a run with some good ol’ situational hitting, Tyler Fitzgerald proudly maintained a months-old club tradition of goofin’ it. Two failed bunt attempts fetched little more than mutterings and steely-eyed stares from the dugout, glares Fitzgerald has become adept at avoiding. He put himself out of his misery by flailing at the next pitch, a Seth Lugo curveball that has become the veteran right-hander’s bread-and-butter among his 9-pitch arsenal this season.

The curve is one of the best in the game. It’s Lugo’s out pitch. Opponents are batting .179 against it while posting a 34% Whiff-rate. The pitch’s K-rate is basically 40% with a Putaway% of 29%. With the kitchen sink in his back pocket, Lugo doesn’t need to shove it down hitter’s throats, but in a two-strike count, one can expect it’ll drop by to say hello. Brett Wisely certainly did. Lugo threw him three in his at-bat in the 2nd: One at his toes, one over the middle of the plate that he fouled off, and one too many.

After taking a cutter up to even the count at 2-2, Wisely knew Uncle Charlie would come knocking. He recognized it, followed its movement down in the zone and put wood on it. A decent pitch, and a better swing—Wisely flipped the ball to left for some unexpected 2-out, 2-strike, RISP hitting that doubled the Giants’ run total.

It was the last mistake Lugo made all game. He retired the final 16 batters he faced, breezing through 7 complete. Kansas City pitching wouldn’t allow another man to reach base until Matt Chapman’s walk with 2-outs in the 9th inning.

No matter. The Giants could’ve stepped into the box bat-less after the 2nd and things would’ve ended up fine. Turns out, even Wisely’s RBI was completely superfluous. Blake Snell shut down the Royals’ flailing offense over 6 innings, while a tandem of Sean Hjelle, Tyler Rogers and Ryan Walker shut the door.

Sunday’s outing was Snell’s second consecutive scoreless outing and sixth of the season as well as the ninth in 20 games that he’s limited his opponents to just two hits or less. In his last start, Snell finessed his way through the Orioles lineup by featuring his change-up; on Sunday, he went back to carving up hitters with his curveball and fastball. The hook generated a 75% whiff rate and delivered 7 of his 9 K’s. He struck out five straight between the 2nd and 3rd innings.

It wasn’t until the 8th inning that a Royal runner reached second base and threatened to score. Tyler Rogers plunked the first batter he faced and Kyle Isbel rolled a single to left. A soft grounder off the bat of Tommy Pham advanced the tying run into scoring position for Bobby Witt Jr. who had one of the hits off Snell and went 4-for-7 in the first two games of the series. The decision to automatically walk the MVP candidate batting .330 with 200+ hits doesn’t make for great television but made a whole lot of baseball sense. The Giants take their role of spoiler seriously, apparently even more-so than their role as potential contender. Besides the opportunity to get Salvador Perez to pop-up with runners in scoring position in the late innings is just too good to pass up. This franchise needs these moments right now — we’ll take any excuse to veg out on a big bowl of cheese-dusted nostalgia as division rivals hit walk-off homers and play for postseason glory.

The Giants are in flyover country, the great plains of put-your-headphones-in-and-wake-me-up-when-we-get-to-the-coasts. All eyes are not on them and clearly loving it. They’ve gone 5-1 on this final road trip, including their third series sweep of the year and first by a team not located in Colorado, and are dangerously close to playing their best baseball of the year.