SF Giants, led by David Villar's two homers, defeat Padres 8-1, finish season 81-81

David Villar accomplished something on Wednesday no SF Giants player has done since Barry Bonds as the team defeated the Padres 8-1.

In their final game of 2022, the SF Giants defeated the San Diego Padres 8-1 to finish the season 81-81. In a weird bit of history, it's the first time in the franchise's 140-year history that the Giants have finished a season at exactly .500.

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With the bulk of the Giants starting rotation on the injured list, manager Gabe Kapler put John Brebbia's run of 10 consecutive shutout innings as an opener on the line. Brebbia's streak was in good shape after he quickly retired the first two hitters he faced. However, back-to-back doubles by Manny Machado and Jake Cronenworth gave the Padres an early 1-0 lead.

Brebbia will finish the year with a league-leading 76 appearances. He recorded a 3.18 ERA with 54 strikeouts in 68 innings pitched. He did show the wear and tear to be expected of a reliever used in nearly half of the team's games, posting a 5.40 ERA in September and October. Still, under team control via arbitration through next season, Brebbia proved himself worthy of a spot in next year's bullpen.

The Padres, having already clinched a playoff spot, asked long relievers Craig Stammen and Nabil Crismatt to handle the bulk of work on Wednesday.

Stammen completed two shutout innings before the Giants evened the score at one in the top of the third. Left fielder LaMonte Wade Jr. lined a single into right field with one out and stole second base. After advancing to third on a groundout, Wade scored on a base hit by outfielder Mike Yastrzemski.

Then, in the fourth inning, the Giants offense combined some good fortune and great hitting to break the game open. Brandon Crawford hit a lead-off single before rookie infielder David Villar blasted a towering 383-foot home run to left field.

Villar leaves the yard pic.twitter.com/IfLc2ojFFG

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) October 5, 2022

Villar's eighth big-league homer of the year gave him 35 blasts between Triple-A and the majors this season. He's the first Giants player to hit at least 35 homers in a season with the organization since Barry Bonds back in 2004. Yet, Villar was not done adding to his big fly tally.

Following the homer, Stammen walked Ford Proctor, surrendered a bloop single to Joey Bart, and was replaced by Crismatt, who allowed an RBI single to Wade and a sacrifice fly to Yastrzemski, which gave the Giants a 5-1 lead.

Yunior Marte replaced Brebbia and struck out a pair of Padres over two perfect innings before Alex Young took over in the fourth. Young struck out three and did not allow a run over 1.2 innings of work. Cole Waites, who was recalled from Triple-A on Tuesday, replaced Young in the fifth and retired the only batter he faced.

Andrew Vasquez became the final player of the year to make his season debut with the Giants. Vasquez was called up in a slew of moves on Monday and kept Padres hitters off balance across two innings. He struck out four and did not allow a hit.

Austin Slater tagged Crismatt for a solo home run in the top of the seventh, extending the lead to 6-1. Slater has had a disappointing 2022 season but will likely be a part of the team's outfield rotation next season. Slater did finish the season on a bit of hot streak, going 6-for-16 with a double, two homers, and just two strikeouts over his final seven games of the year.

Then, in the eighth, facing former Giants reliever Pierce Johnson, Villar hit his second home run of the day. Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar was in a position to rob him of his ninth-career MLB homer, but the ball bounced off his glove and fell over the fence.

Profar had it in his glove 😬 pic.twitter.com/6KM0mWfbz7

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) October 5, 2022

Villar has clearly proven himself worthy of a prolonged big-league opportunity in 2023. Entering the season unprotected on the 40-man roster, where he may have been drafted by another team had CBA negotiations not canceled the Rule 5 draft, Villar destroyed Triple-A competition and bounced back from a rough start thanks to a piece of advice from veteran Evan Longoria.

In 180 big-league plate appearances this season, Villar posted a solid .231/.328/.455 triple slash with six doubles, a triple, and nine homers. Moreover, he hit .287/.347/.609 over his last 26 games. Villar's 32.2% strikeout rate leaves some room for improvement, but he clearly has enough power to be a major contributor in spite of his inconsistent ability to make contact.

The Giants added another insurance run in the top of the ninth inning off Steven Wilson before Luis Ortiz shut out San Diego in the bottom of the ninth.

The SF Giants finished the season in third place in the National League West with an 81-81 record. They finished 13 games ahead of the Rockies, seven games ahead of the Diamondbacks, eight games behind the Padres, and 30 games behind the Dodgers.