SAN FRANCISCO — Eugenio Velez has done such a good job reinventing himself that the Giants outfielder’s teammates often aren’t sure who they are watching.

Saturday, the sparkplug leadoff man had two more hits, including a tying home run, his second homer in two days, to help the Giants shake off Friday night’s late-inning meltdown and rally to a 4-2 victory against the Cincinnati Reds at AT&T Park.
Bengie Molina also had a key role in the Giants’ securing their league-best 38th home victory, driving in three runs, including a go-ahead RBI single in the sixth and a solo homer in the eighth.
But most of the postgame buzz was reserved for Velez, whose career with the Giants appeared to have stalled in mid-May. He has at least one hit in all 12 games since he was recalled from Triple-A Fresno on July 27, and the switch-hitter is batting .433 since his return.
“He’s doing some very special things right now,” said Barry Zito, who continued a resurgence of his own, allowing two runs in six solid innings to improve to 3-1 since the All-Star break. “He’s come back (from Triple-A) as a different player.”
Reliever Bob Howry, said, “I don’t know what happened to him when he left, but he doesn’t look like the same guy.”
Zito (8-10) said Velez reminds him of Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson because of his combination of power and speed.
“He’s got it all,” Zito said.
Three months ago, the Giants weren’t sure if Velez would ever get it.
The 27-year-old has been one of the best athletes in the organization since he was plucked from Toronto’s system in the 2005 minor league Rule V draft. But in stints in the majors the past three seasons, Velez showed only flashes of his tantalizing combination of speed and power. His defense was at best inconsistent.
When he was demoted in mid-May, there was no guarantee Velez would ever return.
But the career challenge resonated with Velez. After modest results in May and into early June, he took off. Velez hit .333 in July when he was called up and hasn’t stopped hitting since he arrived.
Velez said improved concentration is the key to his breakthrough.
“If you concentrate and play hard, you’ll be fine,” Velez said. “I would concentrate (before) but when you don’t play every day, it’s hard.”
Asked if he dreamed his return to the majors would be this successful, Velez didn’t bat an eyelash: “Yeah.”
Manager Bruce Bochy said, “He came back with a lot of confidence, and it shows.”
Velez provided the Giants an instant spark Saturday, extending his hitting streak to 14 games with a leadoff single to center. Velez’s speed then came into play when he avoided a potential rally-killing double play on a hit-and-run grounder by Freddy Sanchez.
One out later, he scored on Molina’s double to left.
Velez struck again in the sixth inning with the Giants trailing 2-1.
Velez, who is listed by the Giants as 6-foot-1, 162 pounds, dropped jaws when he jumped on a 1-1 offering from Reds right-hander Bronson Arroyo (10-11) and hit a blast halfway up the bleachers above the wall in right-center field to tie the score. The Giants went ahead for good later in the inning on Molina’s RBI single, and Molina iced the victory with a solo homer in the eighth.
Zito continued his second-half surge, but most encouraging to Giants fans is that the left-hander won despite not having his best stuff. Although Zito allowed just three hits and walked two, he said he “didn’t really feel in sync. It was a big grind today.”
Zito gutted out six solid innings before turning things over to the bullpen, which redeemed itself after Friday’s meltdown. Howry and Jeremy Affeldt worked out of potential tying jams in the seventh and eighth, respectively, and Brian Wilson worked a scoreless ninth for his 28th save.
“Coming back today the way we did shows the mentality we have as a team,” Wilson said.