SF Giants’ power surge continues against Rockies to collect first sweep since July

SAN FRANCISCO — Gabe Kapler said he began to see signs of life from the Giants’ comatose offense even before their get-right weekend set against the Rockies.

Sure, Colorado, with the worst pitching staff in the majors by ERA and the third-worst record, presented a golden opportunity to score some runs and bank some wins. But the biggest reason for optimism, Kapler said, was that his lineup was nearly back to full strength.

Back from a two-and-a-half-month stint on the injured list, Mitch Haniger provided some solid evidence over the weekend.

Haniger launched his second homer of the series, one of three the Giants got as their sudden power surge continued Sunday in a 6-3 win to complete a sweep of the National League West’s last-place team. Beating up on the Rockies (51-91) at this point is routine, their 16th win in their past 17 tries, but a sweep? It was the Giants’ first in a series of at least three games since their first one out of the All-Star break, July 14-17 at Pittsburgh — their first at home since mid-May.

“Mitch Haniger getting going is a huge deal for us,” Kapler said afterward.

Haniger’s two-run shot in the third inning broke a 3-3 tie after Thairo Estrada evened the score with a solo shot to lead off the inning, and Joc Pederson provided an insurance run in the fifth with a towering homer to the concourse in right field. In total, they homered eight times — more than any other three-game stretch at Oracle Park this season — including two apiece from Haniger and Estrada.

They scored 24 runs over the three-game sweep, more than their total from their previous eight games (22).

Good news: the Giants play Colorado four more times over the next seven days, with three against the sub-.500 Guardians in between.

Even better: Michael Conforto could be activated as soon as Monday, giving the Giants the outfield they envisioned when they signed him and Haniger this offseason.

How Conforto responds from his second day of running the bases Sunday will determine whether or not he is added to the roster for Monday’s series opener against the Guardians. It can’t come fast enough for a team still on the outside of the playoff picture looking in, even after a three-game sweep.

The Giants gained a game, pulling within 1½ of the D-backs, who lost to the Cubs, but still have to pass two other teams, with the Reds (74-71) and Marlins (74-69) both winning.

“I feel and I know a lot of guys in this clubhouse feel that we control our own destiny,” Haniger said. “So if we play to our potential and treat every game like the most important game when we show up to the field, we’ll be in the playoffs.”

Cleveland’s pitching presents a significant step up from Colorado’s, with Gavin Williams (2-5, 3.34), Cal Quantrill (2-6, 5.70) and Logan Allen (7-7, 3.68) scheduled to start the three games. The Guardians’ 3.96 staff ERA ranks eighth in the majors.

It will be a good test to see what this Giants lineup can do at full strength.

After missing out on Aaron Judge and reneging on their deal with Carlos Correa, the Giants committed $79.5 million to the pair of free-agent outfielders to add, they hoped, an everyday presence to the middle of their order. It hasn’t played out that way, though. They have appeared in the same lineup in only 32 of the Giants’ 143 games this season. Add in Mike Yastrzemski and Austin Slater, and there’s been little overlap at all of the four outfielders’ availability.

For Haniger, a Bay Area native who maintains an offseason home in Aptos, it took until Friday night to hit his first home run at Oracle Park, where he once watched Barry Bonds, Jeff Kent and Rich Aurilia do the same. It was so sweet, apparently, that barely 48 hours later, he did it again.

“I’d like to hit a lot of them here,” he said.

After LaMonte Wade Jr.’s second hit of the game in the third inning, Haniger turned on an inside fastball from Rockies starter Peter Lambert and brought him home. The two-run shot to left got out in a hurry, clocked at 108.4 mph off the bat, and gave the Giants a 5-3 lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

In seven games since being activated, Haniger had been 2-for-20 with nine strikeouts before he homered in Friday night’s win.

“It can be tough,” Haniger said of reacclimating after extended time away. “It’s never fun missing time. At the same time, I never expected to scuffle the way I had coming back off the injury. But I’ve been working on things for a while with the hitting coaches and I’m starting to see results.”

Haniger said using his hips and seeing the ball deep in the zone have played the biggest role in his recent success.

Estrada’s homer was his second in as many games and followed a triple in his first at-bat as part of a two-hit night. The Giants’ most valuable position player when he was sidelined by a broken hand, he has hit safely in 23 of the 31 games he’s played since returning on Aug. 5 from the monthlong absence.

Adding a single in his fourth and final at-bat, Pederson finished with his fifth multi-hit game in 15 contests since Aug. 21. The homer, his 13th of the season, was only his second since the start of August.

“Guys are coming together a little bit,” Kapler said. “The whole group has been together for some time now, and you’re starting to see that gelling happening. We’re not saying this series against the Rockies means we’re going to hit a ton of home runs the rest of the way, but certainly you can see one guy feeding off the other.”

The Giants avoided another injury scare in the second inning, when Rockies first baseman Elehuris Montero lined a 108.4 mph line drive off the inside of Keaton Winn’s left leg. Winn, who was rewarded with his third career start after following Alex Cobb last Sunday with five shutout innings against the Padres, doubled over onto the grass behind the pitcher’s mound, drawing Kapler and trainer Dave Groeschner out of the dugout, but remained in the game.

Montero was one of three runners to score as the Rockies opened a 3-0 lead in the second inning, but Winn rebounded to retire 14 of the final 17 batters he faced. Mixing a fastball that topped out at 99.1 mph, the fastest pitch of the game, with a splitter that generated 18 swings and misses, Winn completed six innings while striking out nine without issuing a walk.

“This is a team that likes to swing the bat a lot,” Winn said. “A splitter is designed for teams like that.”

Winn also threw 62 of his 80 pitches for strikes, a 77.5% rate, which is what caught Kapler’s attention.

“We don’t see that ratio of strikes to balls very often, period,” Kapler said. “He was just filling it up on the first pitch, getting ahead, in count leverage all day. He really mixed his pitches well, even mixed in his slider a little bit for some stolen strikes, and the split was in and below the zone. Just a really nice job across the board.”