Yaz finding 2020 form at just the right time for 2021 Giants

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The Giants know there will be more injuries in the second half, and they got a reminder of the nightly minefield when Brandon Crawford exited the first game back with a left hamstring cramp. They know some of their veterans might slow down, and some of their latest finds might finally start to struggle. 

They know the Los Angeles Dodgers aren't going anywhere, and if they looked up at the out-of-town scoreboard at Busch Stadium on Friday night, they got a reminder that the San Diego Padres -- who scored 24 runs in Washington D.C. -- are going to make a run of their own at some point. 

There will be a lot to overcome if the Giants are to turn that surprising first half into an actual NL West title, but there might also be some unexpected boosts. 

How about this one: What if baseball's best team adds an MVP candidate to the top of the lineup for the final two-plus months and the postseason?

Mike Yastrzemski was that type of player last season. While he had a good and valuable first half, he never quite reached his 2020 form. On Friday night, he found it. 

Yastrzemski homered twice and drove in four runs while leading the Giants to a 7-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, their fifth straight and 58th in 90 games. It was Yastrzemski's best offensive game of the season, a reminder of just what an impact he can make when fully healthy and fully locked-in with his mechanics. 

"Yaz has kind of been sneaky-good, even with some of the ups-and-downs of the season, even with some of the injuries," manager Gabe Kapler said. "Just off the top of my head, I think he's still kind of an .800-OPS guy, which is really impressive given what he's struggled through this year. But it would mean a lot to us if he was the best version of himself because he can put a team on his back when he's at his best."

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Yastrzemski showed flashes in the first half, hitting a dozen homers, including a game-winning grand slam that came after a particularly detailed session with the hitting coaches. He entered the break with a .803 OPS and 2.0 Wins Above Replacement, good numbers, but ones that fell short of his previous two seasons. Yastrzemski's OPS was down 165 points from 2020, when he was worth 2.7 WAR in 17 fewer games. 

Nagging injuries have kept Yastrzemski from consistently finding those heights this season. He got drilled on the left hand right at the end of spring training, impacting his swing in April. An oblique strain put him on the IL later that month, and in June he sprained his right thumb when crashing into the right field wall at Oracle Park. 

When healthy, Yastrzemski has been in the lineup every day for Kapler, and at the end of the first half he finally started to look like his old self. He hit .306 with a couple of homers in his final 10 games before the break, and the four days off didn't cool the bat down at all. 

"It's just all about patience," he said. "This is a long season and we've got plenty of games to play left, so it's just kind of staying positive and just focusing on helping the team win one game at a time. If I can help the team win that day I've done my job, whether it's defensively, offensively, on the bases. I'm just trying to do it that way."

On the first night back, the contributions came on offense. Yastrzemski jumped on an Adam Wainwright cutter in the fourth inning to get the Giants on the board first. After LaMonte Wade Jr. gave them a three-run cushion with his own blast, Yastrzemski added another three-run shot when lefty T.J. McFarland hung a slider in the seventh.

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McFarland came in one batter ahead of Yastrzemski, a somewhat odd decision. In nine previous matchups, Yastrzemski had eight hits and two homers. The ownage continued, giving the Giants an 80th homer on the road this season. No other team in the National League has more than 60.

Yastrzemski credited the lineup for sticking to the same approach, no matter the pitcher or venue. 

"It's the product of good at-bats and being disciplined and making sure that we're swinging at the right pitches and just frustrating that guy out there. The guy that we're against, we're thinking it's nine of us versus one of him instead of the one guy at the plate versus him. We're all teaming up together."

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