By Jeremy Kahn

AP photo: San Francisco Giant pitcher Jeff Samardzjia gets a hand shake from catcher Buster Posey after Samardzjia picks up a four hitter at Tropicana Field on Friday night

Jeff Samardzjia entered his start on Friday night in a mini slump, but that all ended with an outstanding performance against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Samardzjia, who came into the game with a 7.36 earned run average and a 0-2 record in his last three starts threw a complete game, scattering four hits and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Rays 5-1 at Tropicana Field.

This was the Giants sixth consecutive win since losing the opener to the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 10 at AT&T Park.

Both Brandon Crawford and Gregor Blanco each drove in two runs, while Brandon Belt hit a solo home run for the Giants, who are now a season-high 16 games over .500.

The Rays drew a crowd of 40,135, their largest crowd since their home opener against the Baltimore Orioles in 2006. This season, the Rays are averaging 16,037, the second-lowest in the majors.

The large crowd at Tropicana Field was due to it being Pride Night, and this year’s event was dedicated to the victims of last Sunday’s mass shooting in nearby Orlando. This past Tuesday, the Rays made all available tickets just $5.00, with all the proceeds going to the Pulse Victims Fund.

Samardzjia struck out four in his complete game outing, where he lost his shutout when Brad Miller hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. Prior to the Miller home run, Samardzjia retired 22 of the previous batters he faced.