Why Kruk believes Giants ‘redefined' themselves after Padres series

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Why Kruk believes Giants 'redefined' themselves after Padres series originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
NBC Sports Bay Area's Mike Krukow explained how the Giants 'redefined' themselves with a pair of comeback wins over the San Diego Padres amid recent roster moves in talking to KNBR's 'Murph and Markus' on Friday.
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'You're into June, and now you're in arguably the biggest series of the year for you so far, given how they lost the first four games to the Padres, and they needed to prove to themselves that they can hang with the Padres; with that move going down, that's exactly what they did,' Krukow told Brian Murphy and Markus Boucher. 'They salvaged the series and redefined themselves.
'I'm repeating myself, but it is the most important thing I've said today in regards to the Giants. What has come out of this series is that they have redefined themselves as a team; they see themselves as a better team because of what they did those last two games of the four-game series.'
San Francisco took the last two games of its dramatically narrow four-game series with San Diego after dropping the first two. As Krukow said, the Giants needed to leave with something after dropping their first four games against the Padres earlier in the 2025 MLB season.
And, after splitting the series in which every game was decided by one run, the Giants appear rejuvenated to many, including Krukow, and with much thanks to the franchise's first-year president of baseball operations.
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'With Buster [Posey] making the move, that had everything to do with it,' he said.
The former San Francisco pitcher highlighted Posey's decision to shake up the roster, specifically by designating fan favorite LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment, as the gutsy decision-making that the organization desperately needed.
Krukow felt the Giants needed a spark to get back on track and prove their seriousness.
'Oh, 100 percent,' Krukow said about Posey's leadership being on display. 'And it's instinct, too; instinct to know that everyone in that clubhouse is waiting – waiting for a game-changing move. What this also says is – who's a better guy than LaMonte Wade Jr.? Nobody. And he's a fan favorite.
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'That was not an easy decision, as you kept thinking he was going to put it together, and he couldn't do it, and time ran out.'
After making some changes and grinding out a pair of wins over San Diego, San Francisco appears to have 'redefined' itself, according to Krukow. The 35-28 Giants, who now trail the 35-26 Padres by one game for the National League's second wildcard spot, will take it.
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