LOS ANGELES -- On a night when temperatures soared into the upper 90s, the Giants fittingly leaned on their firepower to beat the Dodgers for the first time since June 12.
The Giants matched their season high by hammering five home runs, including two by newly acquired outfielder Lewis Brinson, to roll to a 7-4 series-opening win on Monday night at Dodger Stadium.
Brinson, J.D. Davis, Thairo Estrada and rookie David Villar each went deep to give the Giants their first victory in seven games at Chavez Ravine this year and snap their eight-game losing streak against the Dodgers.
It was the third time San Francisco has hit five homers in a game at Dodger Stadium and the first since Oct. 3, 2004. After losing seven straight, the Giants (65-68) have kicked off September by winning four in a row, though they still remain 26 1/2 games back of the first-place Dodgers in the National League West with 28 games left to play.
“We’re just trying to have fun,” right-hander Logan Webb said. “The energy in the dugout and in the clubhouse has been I think a lot better just because there’s nothing really to lose now. It’s just go out there and have fun. Find something that you can play for. I think everyone is really taking that to heart.”
Webb earned his career-high 12th win of the year by holding the Dodgers to three runs (two earned) over six innings. Los Angeles jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Freddie Freeman’s two-run shot in the first inning, but the Giants’ bats picked up Webb with a homer barrage against lefty Andrew Heaney, who has now surrendered 10 long balls in his last four starts.
Brinson, a former top prospect who was acquired from the Astros in exchange for cash considerations earlier this month, opened the power show with his first home run as a Giant, clobbering a game-tying, two-run blast to straightaway center field in the third. Davis followed with another towering solo shot to dead center, putting San Francisco ahead, 3-2.
The Giants continued to tee off on Heaney in the fourth, with Estrada launching a leadoff blast that sailed just beyond the reach of leaping center fielder Cody Bellinger. Villar then joined the party with a two-run homer to right-center, stretching the Giants’ lead to 6-2 and giving them their fourth dinger in an eight-batter span against Heaney.
Brinson capped the slugfest with a solo shot off lefty reliever Justin Bruihl in the ninth, securing his fourth career multi-homer game and his first since Aug. 11, 2021.
“The most important thing is we got a win,” Brinson said. “The two homers were nice. It was a good night for me, but it was nice to beat them.”
Now that the Giants are out of contention, Brinson, Davis and Villar will be among the younger players who are expected to receive extended looks in September to try to set themselves up for bigger roles with the club in 2023.
With Austin Slater on the injured list with a dislocated left pinkie, the right-handed-hitting Brinson has gotten the chance to start in center field and bat leadoff against lefties in recent days. The 28-year-old former first-round Draft pick has made a positive impression thus far, going 4-for-11 with three RBIs over his first four games with the Giants.
“He’s been good against lefties for stretches of his Major League career,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “He’s having an excellent year in Triple-A with the Astros against left-handers. So to the degree that we can put him in those positions, I think that’s going to make him better. His confidence is growing as well.”
Davis, 29, has also been used as a platoon bat since coming over from the Mets as part of the Darin Ruf deal at the Aug. 2 Trade Deadline, flashing his power from the right side by hitting more home runs (5) in his first 25 games with the Giants than he did over his four months in New York (4) this year.
Villar entered Monday hitless in his previous 10 at-bats, but he still earned his first Major League start at first base against Heaney and broke out of his rut with a leadoff single in the third.
The Giants decided to lift Villar after he homered in the fourth, allowing Mike Yastrzemski to enter the game in right field and set up a stronger defensive configuration behind Webb, which paid off when Bryce Johnson and Brandon Crawford combined to throw out Austin Barnes on a perfect relay throw to the plate in the fifth.
Still, Kapler has repeatedly said the Giants want to see more of Villar, who has raked in the Minors over the last two seasons but is still finding his footing in the Majors after hitting .181 with two homers over his first 27 games.
“It means a lot,” Villar said. “Especially with how the first month went. I went down to Triple-A, had some reflections and learned a lot about myself as a player, offensively and defensively. I was waiting for that call back. It’s great to be back here. I just need to show them what I’m worth and show them that I’m capable of being up here.”