SAN FRANCISCO -- Two weeks ago, the Giants dealt veteran catcher Curt Casali at the Trade Deadline, a move that president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi described as a “vote of confidence” in rookie Joey Bart. 

“It was really tough trading Curt,” Zaidi said. “But we’ve just really seen Joey emerge over the last month or so since he’s been back. That gave us a little bit more confidence on that front.” 

Bart has continued to validate that faith, extending his remarkable second-half surge with a three-hit night against old friend Madison Bumgarner in the Giants’ 6-1 series-opening win over the D-backs on Monday at Oracle Park.

The 25-year-old reached on a perfectly executed bunt in the third inning, lofted a double off the right-field wall in the fifth and then ripped a two-run single to left to cap the Giants’ offensive output in the sixth. Bart is now hitting a scorching .500 (14-for-28) over his career-best seven-game hitting streak, with five multi-hit games over that span.

“It’s very encouraging,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, but now it’s starting to get a little consistent. I know Joey is reaping the benefits of that with his confidence levels. As a team, I think we’re really benefiting from him and his production at the bottom of the lineup.”

Evan Longoria added a two-run homer -- his 10th of the year and his first since coming off the injured list last week -- to help back veteran right-hander Alex Cobb, who delivered six innings of one-run ball to earn his first win since May 17.

The Giants have now won four straight and seven of their last nine games to climb back over .500 for the first time since July 24. At 58-57, they’re now 5 1/2 games behind the Padres and 3 1/2 games behind the Brewers for the final National League Wild Card spot with 47 games left to play.

Bart’s turnaround has emerged as one of the most satisfying storylines of the season for the Giants, who are beginning to see the Buford, Ga., native develop into the everyday catcher they envisioned when they took him with the second overall pick of the 2018 Draft.

“Everybody on the team knows the tools are there,” Cobb said. “To see him start clicking is just fun. It’s well deserved. You battle through all this, and now you need to go enjoy all the positive results you’re getting. I’m happy for him.”

Bart struggled mightily after succeeding franchise icon Buster Posey behind the plate at the beginning of the season, hitting .156 with a .596 OPS and 49 strikeouts over 108 plate appearances before being demoted to Triple-A Sacramento in early June. The Giants hoped the move would allow Bart to mentally reset and give him a chance to work on some swing adjustments away from the daily grind of the Majors.

After a one-month sojourn in the Minors, Bart returned to the Giants and began to see tangible results with his revamped swing. Since being recalled on July 6, Bart is hitting .314 with five home runs, three doubles and 12 RBIs over 28 games, boosting his OPS to .727 on the season.

“It’s just baseball,” Bart said. “You’ve got to come in every day and try to get better. It’s really all I’m trying to do. Just trying to stay competitive on both sides of the ball, get our starting pitching deep into games and put the best at-bats together that I can.”

The latest sign of Bart’s growth came via his unexpected drag bunt in the third inning. As recently as two weeks ago, Bart said he had never squared up in pro ball, but he decided to spring a bunt on the D-backs defense at the suggestion of third-base coach Mark Hallberg. The ball ended up rolling down the third-base line before hitting the bag, allowing him to reach first base without a throw.

“It’s pretty lucky,” Bart said.

Regardless, the Giants have seen enough from Bart to believe the changes he’s made are real and can continue to propel them down the stretch and beyond.

“All the ability is there, all the talent is there,” Longoria said. “Behind the plate, he’s done an amazing job for us, too. I think that goes a little bit unnoticed because offensively he’s been so good lately. When you lose a guy like Buster, it’s pretty easy to overlook the next guy that comes in, or compare him to Buster. Nobody should be compared to Buster.

"You shouldn’t have to deal with that, especially as a young player. He’ll make his own way. I think he’ll put himself in a category of his own. I think we’re starting to see that. There’s a reason why they drafted him where they drafted him. I think he has a chance to be a very special player.”