What we learned as Chapman and Wade fuel Giants’ comeback win against Reds originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
Matt Chapman homered for the second game in a row, LaMonte Wade Jr. hit the tiebreaker in the sixth inning and Robbie Ray recovered from a shaky ride to earn the victory as the Giants defeated the Cincinnati Reds 8-2 on Sunday.
Tyler Fitzgerald added two hits, including 11th home run, to help the Giants earn their first road victory since early July. Michael Conforto contributed three hits and two RBI.
The Giants (56-57) have won eight of their last 11 games.
Chapman, San Francisco’s hottest hitter over the past two weeks, hit a two-run homer after nearly leaving the game earlier in the day when he dropped a ball hard on his left shin during his first at-bat.
Wade, batting at the top of the Giants’ lineup as manager Bob Melvin searches for a consistent hitter, hit his first home run since July 2.
Ray (2-1) and four relievers held on. Ray allowed three hits in five innings while recording a season-high nine strikeouts with one walk.
Ryan Walker, Erik Miller, Tyler Rogers and Spencer Bivens combined for four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while closing out.
The Giants played without center fielder Heliot Ramos, who sat out nursing a sore thumb that worsened the day before.
Here are the takeaways from Sunday’s game:
Lightning Day
The Reds got Ray for some hard-hitting home runs, but otherwise couldn’t get much out of the Giants’ starting pitcher.
Making his third start since coming off the injured list, Ray had a season-high nine strikeouts. He was especially sharp with his offspeed pitches, hitting 15 of his 18 swings and misses with his slider and curveball.
Ray’s best moment of the game came in the fifth inning after center fielder Mike Yastrzemski narrowly missed a diving catch. The Reds moved a runner to third base with one out, but the Giants left-hander worked his way out of the jam by receiving throws from Luke Maile and Jonathan India.
Chapman on a roll
With two more hits on Sunday, Chapman continues to be a shining light in the Giants lineup This has been discouraging for most of the season.
San Francisco’s cleanup hitter went deep for the second straight day at Great American Ball Park, striking out a team-leading 17thth home run in the fourth inning. Reds starter Carson Spiers’ two-run blast hit 421 feet and had an exit velocity of 109.1 mph.
It’s the first time Chapman has scored in consecutive games since scoring in three consecutive games against the Pittsburgh Pirates in May. The 17 home runs also equal the total he has hit for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 2023 MLB season.
In his last 11 games, Chapman is batting .390 (16-for-41) with four doubles, four homers, eight RBI and 10 runs scored.
Opening
The Giants’ inconsistent offense woke up big in the eighth inning, scoring five runs to open the game.
San Francisco batted and had five hits with two walks in the inning. Fitzgerald’s home run and Conforto’s double were the biggest hits, while Jerar Encarnacion contributed an RBI double.
The five runs in one inning were equal to or greater than what the Giants had scored in their previous seven games.
