The San Francisco Giants pushed their winning streak to six games Friday night at Oracle Park, defeating the Orioles, 15-8. That score has been double-checked by professional editors, who have verified it with multiple sources. It’s real. That’s a “1” and a “5” mashed together, which somehow makes a number that’s bigger than both of them. This new number describes how many runs the Giants scored, and it’s a lot.

Have the Giants ever scored 15 runs at Oracle Park before? Well, let’s see, they had to have scored at least eight or nine runs there in the seasons that Barry Bonds was on the team, and I can remember at least three in different seasons since then, so it’s close. (OK, fine. They’ve now had seven games with 15 or more runs in the ballpark’s history, with the last one coming more than 10 years ago.)

The Giants need to extend this winning streak to about 10 games before September is half as interesting as it should have been, but they scored so many runs that you can’t even make a good football score joke. That deserves a couple of notes and fun facts.

A series of moderately infrequent events

The Giants both scored 15 runs and extended their winning streak to six games, and neither of those feats is guaranteed to happen in any given season. The Giants didn’t have a 15-run game or a six-game winning streak in 2024; that was the 12th season without either in San Francisco history. The Giants didn’t score 15 runs in a game in 2001, the season in which Bonds set the single-season home run record. They didn’t have a six-game winning streak in 2010, when they won the NL West and World Series. Yet there go those silly 2025 Giants, doing both at once.

Here’s something that’s probably not going to make you feel better: This is the Giants’ third winning streak of at least six games this season. There has never been an under-.500 Giants team with that many six-game winning streaks in a season. Probably because of all the winning that happens during those streaks, by definition. The average record of a Giants team with multiple six-game winning streaks is 92-70.

Yet there go those silly 2025 Giants.

This has been the strangest danged season. Plenty of time to get stranger, too.

Luis Matos’ average is now above the Mendoza line. (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)Luis Matos’ hot streak is still going

Matos had four hits, including a home run, bringing his season average up to .222. That doesn’t sound very impressive, but remember that he was hitting .167 when he was recalled Aug. 21. He’s played in eight games since then, with 13 hits in 30 at-bats (.433).

This section is both deserved recognition for a game well played and a thinly veiled excuse to link back to my article about how much Matos could mean to the Giants. And it’s also a place to congratulate Matos for bringing his season OPS up to .728. The Giants are so close to being able to build an entire lineup out of .700-OPS hitters. Rafael Devers is a little too hot, and Wilmer Flores isn’t hot enough, but I can’t imagine they’ll get many chances like this again. It would be the most C-plus lineup in the history of baseball, which somehow feels right.

It’s a beautiful dream. It’s not quite as beautiful as the thought of Matos, Devers and others ending the season on a tear, though. If this keeps up, you’ll somehow feel much, much better about the offseason, against your better judgment.

The Bobby Thomson test

On Aug. 11, 1951, the Giants lost their fourth straight and fell 13 games behind the Dodgers in the National League standings. There were just 44 games left in the season. They were cooked.

Then the Giants won the pennant, won the pennant, won the pennant. It was kind of a big deal. And it’s always fun to compare an underperforming team to the one that gave us The Shot Heard ‘Round the World. How far ahead/behind are they of the ’51 Giants’ pace?

This year’s Giants have 27 games left to play, and they’re six games behind the Mets for the final wild-card spot.

When the ’51 Giants had that many games left, they were … six games behind the Dodgers.

I’m not saying you should get excited. I’m just saying this year’s team is going to do the exact same thing, and time is a flat circle.

Dominic Smith is on the board

Smith hit the 107th Splash Hit in Oracle Park history, and the first since Mike Yastrzemski hit one in April. You’re always up for a video of a splash hit:

That was the third Splash Hit in ballpark history that was given up by an Orioles pitcher, which is remarkable, considering that was just the 16th game the Orioles have ever played at Oracle Park. For comparison, consider that the Dodgers have also allowed three Splash Hits … over the last 23 seasons … spanning 199 games. They should probably start giving more of them up, just to be good sports.

Is all of this too little, too late for the 2025 Giants? Almost certainly. It’s hard not to get fooled when they’re playing this well, though. Take the delusions of grandeur when they’re offered to you, and don’t look back.

(Top photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)