SAN FRANCISCO — After his team lost its ninth straight home game and fifth straight game overall Monday night against Seattle, San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy decided it was time to call a team meeting before facing the Mariners again Tuesday afternoon.
Bochy got the results he was hoping for.
The Giants ended their losing streak with a 6-2 victory against Seattle in the finale of their five-game homestand. Third baseman Matt Duffy went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and three RBIs, and right-hander Tim Lincecum (7-3) held the Mariners to two runs over 5 2/3 innings.
“We had a little discussion about it today,” Duffy said of the home skid. “These fans are too good to us to be playing the way we have been at home. We’ve been playing really well on the road but for some reason or another it hasn’t translated so we just picked up the focus a little bit, and it’s always good to finish a homestand or a road trip on a win and get a happy flight to wherever you’re going and carry that momentum to the next series.”
The Giants open a two-game series at Seattle on Wednesday.
Duffy put the Giants ahead 2-0 Tuesday with a two-run homer off LHP J.A. Happ in the second inning.
“It’s a good feeling,” Duffy said. “I think the most important thing was getting on the board first. That’s something we haven’t been able to do the past week but whenever you can give pitchers a cushion they can go out there and attack the zone and Timmy did a great job of that today once we gave him the lead. He was pretty aggressive in throwing strikes and he knows he doesn’t have to be perfect at that point.”