SAN DIEGO _ The San Francisco Giants are out of the playoff race and manager Bruce Bochy isn't compelled to force all of his veteran players to start every game.
But the club still has a goal of winning as many games as possible, so Bochy isn't inclined to turn the rest of the season over to the rookies that line the dugout railing.
Bochy hasn't found many winning combinations with his lineups this month, but he chose the right mix of veterans and prospects to collect a 4-2 series-opening win over the San Diego Padres Monday.
The Giants received contributions from starters young and old, including a few everyday regulars and players enjoying their first cup of cold brew at the major league level.
Runs have been hard to come by for a struggling Giants offense of late, but with four in their first five innings against Padres starter Bryan Mitchell, the club broke a franchise record-tying 11-game streak of scoring three or fewer.
The last time the Giants played more than 10 in a row without scoring four was Aug. 14-24, 2002, but this year's squad won't be returning to Southern California this October to play in the World Series.
Instead, the Giants promise to make offseason changes to a roster in desperate need of more power. The front office will consider significantly overhauling the team's core, but two players locked up for the long haul played key roles in the early outburst as both Brandon Crawford and Evan Longoria homered.
With the Giants down 1-0, Crawford smashed a Mitchell fastball over the right center field wall for his 13th home run of the season. After earning the honor to start for the National League at shortstop in the All-Star Game, a lingering knee issue has hampered Crawford's performance during the second half as he entered the game hitting .157 since the beginning of August.
Crawford's solo blast was just his third home run since July 1 and it came in an inning when two of the club's newest players combined to give the Giants their first lead.
After recording the first multi-hit game of his career Sunday, rookie left fielder Chris Shaw drilled a one-out double down the left field line for one of his three hits on the night. Shaw was lifted for a pinch-runner after his second double of the game in the sixth, but he had no trouble running home from third to score the go-ahead run on a single from Aramis Garcia.
Garcia's hit provided a lift to his high school travel ball teammate, Andrew Suarez, who was masterful and efficient on the mound against the Padres. Despite struggling in late July and early August, Suarez has rebounded with a fantastic stretch to close out his rookie season.
The left-hander finished with a career-high 7 2/3 innings of two-run ball against the Padres as a solo home run by catcher Austin Hedges was the only run Suarez surrendered until reliever Mark Melancon allowed an inherited run to score in the eighth.
Since a disastrous day in Cincinnati Aug. 19, Suarez has completed at least six innings in five straight outings and turned in four quality starts. Though Suarez hasn't matched the consistency of fellow rookie Dereck Rodriguez, he's done more than enough to convince the team's decision-makers he can hold down a spot in future rotations with his work this season.
When Suarez was pulled with a pitch count of 87 in the bottom of the eighth, he appeared frustrated Bochy did not allow him to complete the inning.
With Brandon Belt dealing with a nagging knee injury, Suarez's close friend Garcia earned his first career start at first base Monday so the Giants could evaluate his versatility heading into next season. With Belt sidelined and Pablo Sandoval, Ryder Jones and Buster Posey all out for the year with injuries, Bochy is practically out of options at one of the corner infield positions.
The other corner infield spot has been manned by third baseman Evan Longoria, who took over the team lead with his 16th home run of the season in the top of the fifth. Longoria's two-run blast gave the Giants a 4-1 advantage and marked the second time the club has received home runs from two Opening Day starters in the second half.
With Andrew McCutchen playing for the New York Yankees and Austin Jackson manning center field for the New York Mets, the Opening Day starters remaining with the Giants have combined to hit just 12 homers since the All-Star break, two of which came Monday.
