On the first Sunday of NFL football, the Giants utilized the deep ball.
Thairo Estrada, Joc Pederson and Mitch Haniger all homered Sunday, leading San Francisco to a 6-3 win over the Colorado Rockies and completing a three-game sweep at Oracle Park.
The Giants found themselves in an early hole after the Rockies rallied for three runs in the second inning off starter Keaton Winn. But San Francisco responded with a pair of small-ball runs in the bottom of the inning, and then took the lead for good in the third on homers by Estrada and Haniger.
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Pederson's 342-foot blast in the fifth inning -- his first since Aug. 21 -- was just icing on the cake.
Rocked for three runs in the second inning, Winn regained composure to string together one of the most impressive outings of his young career. In six innings, he allowed three earned runs on five hits but did not walk a batter while recording a career-high nine strikeouts. Winn's previous career best was four strikeouts over five innings in a win over the San Diego Padres on June 19.
Winn collected 22 swing-and-misses in his outing -- 18 on his splitter and four on his four-seam fastball. The 25-year-old appears to be an intriguing option for manager Gabe Kapler moving forward as San Francisco fights for a playoff spot over the final few weeks of the season.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants (73-70) now are 1.5 games behind the rival Arizona Diamondbacks (75-69) for the third and final NL wild-card spot. The Miami Marlins (74-69) and Cincinnati Reds (74-71) remain slightly ahead of San Francisco in its playoff chase, but the Giants have a chance to make a run -- something that looked bleak during the six-game losing streak to start the month.
The Giants remain at home for another three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians at Oracle Park.