Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that the team who plays professional baseball in San Francisco has been fairly dominant over the past few years. After ending a 56 year dry spell and capturing their first title in the city by the bay six years ago, they went on to reach the mountaintop again in 2012 and 2014. This run of “even year magic” has cemented the Giants as a modern day MLB dynasty.

Despite this amazing run of success, any Giants fan will tell you that none of the titles have ever been a sure thing. Never have the Giants been a stacked team of free agents or a mighty lineup of buff power hitters slapping home runs. The trend at 24 Willie Mays Plaza has always been pitching always, offense when it matters (this trend of one run wins led announcer Mike Krukow to deem Giants baseball ‘torture’). All three San Francisco championships have been achieved through good defense, home grown talent and superb pitching.

And this (even) year looks no different.

The Giants starting pitching has been borderline unstoppable as of late, sporting a cumulative ERA of 1.56, a team W-L record of 13-1 and an opponent average of .201 in the last 14 games. If the Giants can manage to put up at least 3 runs a game – which, if this lineup can hit even close to what they’re capable of, shouldn’t be a problem – the starting pitching will put them in a good position to win the game. This series with the Padres was no exception, as the Giants got their brooms out and swept San Diego on the back of unbelievable pitching and clutch hitting when it mattered.

At this point in the season Giants fans probably shudder at the thought of this team without the off season acquisitions of Johnny Cueto (7-1) and Jeff Samardzija (7-2). The pair of free agents have been lights out, taking advantage of the pitcher friendly AT&T Park and preforming equally as well on the road. In the first game of the series, Cueto retired 23 of the first 24 batters he faced and went the distance in a complete game, 2 hit effort.

Padres starter Drew Pomeranz was equally as dazzling, throwing seven shutout innings and putting Giants batters in fits. The game looked like it was going to extra innings, when with two outs, Hunter Pence hit what looked like a can of corn pop fly to Matt Kemp in shallow right. However, Kemp lost it at the last second and watched it fall, which allowed Pence to reach second on a fluke double and Brandon Belt to score the winning run from first.

Samardzija’s outing in the next matchup wasn’t quite as spectacular, but he still got the job done with one run in 6 2/3 innings. This time the Giants didn’t rely on a ninth inning error for their offense, exploding for 8 runs off a Brandon Crawford bases loaded triple, followed by a two-run bomb into the garden in straightaway center by new arrival Jarrett Parker.

“It was good to get a win like this, no question,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We hadn’t been clicking lately.” Bochy added that the plentiful eighth inning “Hopefully gets the bats going [so] we keep the line moving a little better.”

The offensive firepower did not translate into the next game, but fortunately it didn’t need to. The Giants’ often criticized starter, veteran Jake Peavy, looked as good as he has all year. Peavy allowed only one run and six hits in 6 2/3 innings, breaking up his previous five starts which he went 0-4 with a 9.58 ERA. Peavy really needed this outing for his confidence, and hopefully he can turn the corner and be a formidable pitcher for the Orange and Black. Once again, San Francisco needed late game heroics to pull the victory off, as Brandon Crawford nailed a two-out, walk-off single to assure a sweep of the three-game series. San Francisco has won five straight games, and improved to 9-0 against San Diego this year.

Kelby Tomlinson proved his worth and then some today, roaming left field in support of the injured Angel Pagan. It was only Tomlinson’s second professional start in left, but it didn’t look like it. The glasses wearing youngster pulled off two #SCTopTen caliber plays by throwing a rope to punch out Yangervis Solarte at home after a Melvin Upton Jr. first inning single, and also flashing the leather by pulling off a sliding grab later in the game. If Tomlinson can continue this success in left when needed, the Giants will be able to refrain from acquiring Pagan insurance before the deadline.

We all know that 2016 is an even year. And with 12 victories in the past 13 games, it’s starting to feel like one in San Francisco.

Follow @ACAllAmericans for quality, up-to-date sports reporting.