2021 San Francisco Giants season
The 2021 San Francisco Giants season was the 139th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, their 64th year in San Francisco, and their 22nd at Oracle Park. It was the Giants' second season under manager Gabe Kapler, who managed his first 162-game season with the club (after the 2020 season was shortened to 60 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic), and he led them to the best record in the league. On September 13, the Giants clinched a spot in the postseason for the first time since 2016, and became the first  team to clinch a spot in the 2021 postseason. On September 29, the Giants won their 104th game of the season, which set a San Francisco era record for most wins in a season. On October 3, the Giants won the National League West division title. It was their 9th division title in franchise history, and their first since 2012. It was also their 107th win of the season, which set a new franchise record for most wins in a season. It broke the previous record of 106 wins set by the 1904 New York Giants. In the 2021 regular  season, the Giants' batters led the National League in home runs (241), slugging percentage (.440), OPS (.769), intentional walks (45), pitches per plate appearance (3.99), stolen base percentage (83%), and pull percentage (30.2%). They hit 18 pinch-hit home runs, a major league record. Of all NL teams, they had the highest batting average (.280), on-base percentage (.368), slugging percentage (.461), and OPS (.829) from the catcher position, the highest slugging percentage (.588) and OPS (.969) from the first base position, and the most RBIs from the shortstop position (108). They were second in the NL in runs (804 ), RBIs (768), walks (602), and batting average (.249). The team's pitchers led the NL in fewest home runs (151), fewest walks (416), and strikeouts/walk (3.43). They tied for the league lead with 56 saves and fewest hit batters (63). Manager Gabe Kapler began the 2021 season with a coaching staff of 13 that included nine who had never been on a major league staff before he hired them, and most of them were young enough to be playing themselves. In the 2021 regular season, his Giants winning percentage rose from .483 to .660, the 12 overturns caused by  his challenges were tied for the most in the majors, and he was one of only two managers who were not ejected during the season. He used more pinch hitters per game than any other major league manager for the second season in a row (2.60), and the second-most pitchers per game (4.7). The Giants lost in five games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2021 National League Division Series. Kapler was named the "Sporting News" 2021 NL Manager of the Year, as 86% of his fellow National League managers voted for him. The Giants participated in the  Cactus League during spring training. The team won 11 and lost 12 of their 28 games; the remaining 5 games were tied and not included in the standings. Regular season. For the 12th consecutive year, the Giants started their season on the road. They began 2021 against the Seattle Mariners, the first time that either team had opened a season with an interleague game. Evan Longoria and Buster Posey became only the second pair of Giants teammates—after Benito Santiago and Ray Durham in 2003—to homer in each of the team's first two games of a season since  at least 1901. In mid-April the Giants shut out the Miami Marlins and Philadelphia Phillies in consecutive games, marking the club's first back-to-back team shutouts since September 2018. Facing the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, the Giants scored 10 runs in the first inning for the first time since 1967. The Giants came back from a 7–0 deficit to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks in mid-June. Mike Yastrzemski hit a grand slam into McCovey Cove and he and Steven Duggar became the first pair of Giants teammates to each get a splash hit home run in  the same game. Statistics. Batting. "List does not include pitchers. Stats in bold are the team leaders." "Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; R = Runs; H = Hits; 2B = Doubles; 3B = Triples; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In; BB = Walks; SO = Strikeouts; SB = Stolen Bases; Avg. = Batting Average; OBP = On-Base Percentage; SLG = Slugging; OPS = On Base + Slugging" Pitching. "List does not include position players. Stats in bold are the team leaders." "Note: W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run  average; G = Games pitched; GS = Games started; SV = Saves; IP = Innings pitched; R = Runs allowed; ER = Earned runs allowed; BB = Walks allowed; K = Strikeouts" Farm system. Source: