Crawford's homer helps Giants reverse course

SAN FRANCISCO -- When Brandon Crawford's turn came to receive his 2014 World Series ring during Saturday's pregame ceremony, he was introduced as the Giants' RBI leader in last October's postseason.

Then he delivered a reminder of how he achieved that feat.

Crawford's two-run homer in the fourth inning padded the Giants' one-run lead and helped them cruise to a 4-1 victory that ended their eight-game losing streak. His round-tripper also sustained his emergence from a season-long slump.

Crawford lifted his average to .163 with his second homer in three days. This early portion of the season has tested the dynamic shortstop, who has been thrown offspeed pitches at a more frequent rate.

"I've been making the adjustment to be able to hit those pitches," said Crawford, who proved that by launching Rubby De La Rosa's first-pitch changeup into the right-field seats.

Crawford's first plate appearance Saturday typified his "slump." He drove a 1-0 fastball to deep left field, but David Peralta snared it.

"I've been swinging pretty well; I haven't gotten many hits," Crawford said, summarizing his luck thus far.

Overall, the Giants enjoyed a promising offensive evening, if not an overly prolific one. Displaying his penchant for using the whole field, Joe Panik hit an opposite-field RBI single to open the scoring in the first inning. Two innings later, Buster Posey contributed a two-out, run-scoring single -- the type of hit that eluded the Giants during their losing streak. And, of course, there was Crawford's homer.

"Those are the things that can get them rolling," manager Bruce Bochy said.