http://0rz.tw/Nw8Yo Huff helps Bumgarner top Pirates By Adam Berry / MLB.com | 8/10/2011 2:42 AM ET SAN FRANCISCO -- Seemingly all season, Giants manager Bruce Bochy has been insisting that his scuffling hitters would come around and start producing, just as they have in the past. While Aubrey Huff had been quietly improving his numbers since the All-Star break, batting .327 over his previous 17 games, his performance at the plate Tuesday night loudly reminded the sold-out crowd in AT&T Park of the way Huff served as the Giants' primary run producer a year ago. Back in the cleanup spot with Carlos Beltran sidelined by a strained right wrist, Huff drove in San Francisco's first run and added another on a solo homer, finishing 3-for-4 and leading the Giants to a 6-0 win over the Pirates. Huff said he has focused more on laying off bad pitches and getting into hitter's counts, and that has resulted in a .308 average since the All-Star break. "It's just the swings that he's getting off and the contact he's making lately has been a lot better. I know he's been working hard," Bochy said. "We've got a lot of baseball left. Anytime you're in August and you're still having your struggles, you can't give up. You've got to keep grinding and keep working, and he's doing that. He's going to be a big part of this offense as we go down the stretch here." "Hopefully we'll run off these next two months," Huff said, "and nobody will remember the first four." Huff's numbers when he's ahead in the count -- a .341 average and 1.050 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) -- show a hitter still capable of inflicting plenty of damage. Bochy said he felt Huff put too much pressure on himself after the Giants lost Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez for the season, and the first baseman admitted the entire team had been trying to swing its way out of its recent struggles at the plate. "When you find yourself getting into the struggles we've been in, especially with us not scoring any runs at all and our pitchers have been going out there giving us everything they've got, you go out there and you're just trying to do too much to put a quick '1' on the board," Huff said. "I don't think I've ever hit a homer when I'm trying, and that seems to be what we've all been doing lately." Huff entered Tuesday's game batting .233 with runners in scoring position this season -- including 3-for-his-last-21 in those situations -- but broke a scoreless tie by knocking a double to center field off Pirates right-hander James McDonald, driving in Jeff Keppinger from second. Huff later blasted his 11th homer of the year to right field -- a solo shot that gave the Giants a comfortable three-run lead. But it wasn't the first long ball of the night. That belonged to Chris Stewart , who took the first pitch he saw in the fifth into the left-field stands for his first Major League home run. The 29-year-old catcher received the ball after the game from the fan who caught it and said it would find its place among his most prized possessions at home. Stewart, a Minor League journeyman for much of his career, also got a hearty welcome back into the dugout from his teammates, happy to be there for Stewart's achievement. Asked the usual postgame question of if he knew the ball was gone as soon as it left his bat, Stewart replied, "I hoped it was gone. Like I said, I know my power -- or lack of. I knew I got all of it. If it didn't go out, then I was going to start bunting every at-bat." That would have been enough run support for Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner, who moved to 12-1 in his career when receiving at least three runs of support. But the Giants tacked on three more runs in the eighth inning, giving Bumgarner and the bullpen an unusual amount of leeway to work with. But Bumgarner was as good as ever, throwing seven shutout innings, striking out 10 batters and allowing only four hits and one walk. Bumgarner attributed his success to an adjustment he made after his historically bad start against the Twins earlier this season, focusing on his target earlier in his delivery. "He's got swing-and-miss stuff. He's got deception to his delivery. He had good command tonight," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "There is some deception to the delivery because it's not a delivery you see all the time. There are some left-handers that have that type of delivery. What makes it extremely tough for him is the command and the pitch sequence that he can throw off it." As much of a morale booster as Tuesday night's victory was, given how often the club has failed to reward an effort like Bumgarner's with a win, it didn't give them any additional breathing room in the National League West. The D-backs' beat the Astros, 11-9, and San Francisco is still clinging to a half-game division lead. But if Tuesday night was any indication, or if Huff's numbers continued to trend upward, the Giants might be poised to add to that margin. "It's huge. Hopefully, and we've said this a million times this year, this'll get us going," Huff said. "It's just one game. We've got a long way to go offensively to keep this going. The way we pitch, if we score three or four, that's our motto. Hopefully tonight will be a good start." Adam Berry is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. --

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