WASHINGTON -- If you feel compelled to attempt the inevitable pun involving Joe Panik's surname, make sure to mention that the homophone you'll surely use doesn't apply to him.Panik doesn't panic. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to excel as he has been for the Giants -- hitting and fielding consistently, thriving in parks he's never seen against pitchers he's never has faced.The rookie second baseman continued his emergence Friday, highlighting a four-hit effort with a three-run, fourth-inning homer that propelled the Giants to a 10-3 victory over the Washington Nationals. 
Panik improved his batting average for the trip to a rousing .563 (9-for-16).The decision ended Washington's Major League-best 10-game winning streak and thus added a fresh helping of legitimacy to the Giants' bid for a postseason berth.The Giants hadn't done much as the fourth inning drew to a close. They trailed only 1-0 but had collected just two singles off Nationals starter Doug Fister, including one by Panik in the second inning.Then San Francisco awakened with two outs and nobody on base in the fourth. Washington second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera couldn't snare Pablo Sandoval's grounder, resulting in an infield single. Michael Morse, a former Washington outfielder who received warm applause from the Nationals Park crowd, singled past diving shortstop Ian Desmond.Up came Panik, who drilled Fister's first-pitch fastball over the center-field barrier, several feet to the right of the 402-foot marker.Jayson Werth's homer off Tim Hudson in Washington's half of the fourth narrowed the difference to 3-2, but a pair of Giants who have hit almost as impressively as Panik helped San Francisco pull away. Buster Posey delivered his second homer in two games with one out in the sixth inning. Travis Ishikawa, who's batting .320 (8-for-25) in his second life as a Giant, followed Gregor Blanco's walk and Panik's single with a two-run double off the right-field wall for a 6-2 lead.The Giants added four more runs in the ninth to blow the game open.Chris Haft / MLB.com
Panik improved his batting average for the trip to a rousing .563 (9-for-16).The decision ended Washington's Major League-best 10-game winning streak and thus added a fresh helping of legitimacy to the Giants' bid for a postseason berth.The Giants hadn't done much as the fourth inning drew to a close. They trailed only 1-0 but had collected just two singles off Nationals starter Doug Fister, including one by Panik in the second inning.Then San Francisco awakened with two outs and nobody on base in the fourth. Washington second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera couldn't snare Pablo Sandoval's grounder, resulting in an infield single. Michael Morse, a former Washington outfielder who received warm applause from the Nationals Park crowd, singled past diving shortstop Ian Desmond.Up came Panik, who drilled Fister's first-pitch fastball over the center-field barrier, several feet to the right of the 402-foot marker.Jayson Werth's homer off Tim Hudson in Washington's half of the fourth narrowed the difference to 3-2, but a pair of Giants who have hit almost as impressively as Panik helped San Francisco pull away. Buster Posey delivered his second homer in two games with one out in the sixth inning. Travis Ishikawa, who's batting .320 (8-for-25) in his second life as a Giant, followed Gregor Blanco's walk and Panik's single with a two-run double off the right-field wall for a 6-2 lead.The Giants added four more runs in the ninth to blow the game open.Chris Haft / MLB.com
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