Matt Chapman, by way of an early ejection, was robbed of any chance to bat Tuesday night.
Given the opportunity to perform his typical duties in the cleanup spot of the Giants lineup the following night, he wasted little time making the most of it. Leading off the second inning, Chapman unloaded on the first pitch from German Marquez, a belt-high fastball, which landed deep into the visitor’s bullpen, 450 feet away.
“Thank goodness he played,” manager Bob Melvin told reporters in Denver.
Chapman added another three-run shot in the sixth inning, doubled and drew a walk to lead the way as the Giants outslugged the Rockies to complete a three-game sweep in a Coors Field classic, 10-8. He made it all nine innings, but Melvin was ejected arguing balls and strikes after the fifth.
“That first run of the game, it’s huge,” Melvin said of Chapman’s second-inning homer. “For us, it’s been the home run recently. And for him to do it, kind of apropos with all that went on yesterday. … It’s been a pretty good recipe for us, our core guys getting us off to good starts with homers.”
The win was the Giants’ 10th in their past 11 games. After dropping six straight for the third time since the All-Star break and seeing their record fall six games below .500, they have climbed back to two games over (71-69) — only four back of the final wild card after the Mets lost again, 6-2, in Detroit.
The blasts from Chapman, who was suspended for his role in a first-inning benches-clearing brouhaha the previous night but appealed and thus was eligible to play, gave the Giants home runs in 17 straight games. The streak is the longest in the franchise’s San Francisco era, though still two weeks shy of the modern record (since 1969), held by the 2019 Yankees, who homered in 31 consecutive games.
“You think back to it, 17 is a lot, especially when you play in our park,” Melvin said. “It’s been a huge part of the resurgence at this point. And it’s mostly been those guys in the middle of the order that we signed here long-term to do exactly that: drive in runs, hit homers and hit for power.”
Chapman’s second homer was the bookend on a five-run sixth inning that immediately put the Giants back in front, 9-5, after the Rockies rallied for four runs with two outs and knocked their starter, Robbie Ray, from the game the previous inning.
Drew Gilbert padded the lead and gave the Giants their 36th home run of the streak with a solo shot to lead off the seventh. Willy Adames, also ejected in the first inning Tuesday, singled and was one of seven Giants to drive in a run.
After relieving Ray in the fifth inning, 28-year-old rookie Joel Peguero earned his first win with 1⅓ scoreless innings of relief. J.T. Brubaker, signed as a minor-league free agent last month, made his first appearance with the club and nearly recorded a three-inning save before running into trouble in the ninth, allowing the Rockies to cut the lead from five to two and bring the tying run to the plate, requiring Ryan Walker to record the final two outs.
Holding a 5-4 advantage, the Rockies went to the bullpen after Marquez had labored through five innings, and Luis Peralta issued walks to the first two batters he faced. Both came home to score, as Patrick Bailey lined a two-strike single the other way to score Casey Schmitt and Heliot Ramos singled in Luis Matos before Chapman cleared the bases.
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The Giants were in control, leading 4-1, and Ray appeared to be cruising until the bottom of the fifth. He faced the minimum the first time through the order, recorded the first two outs of the inning without issue and gotten ahead of Tyler Freeman, 0-2. He missed high with two fastballs, then painted the inside corner for what should have been strike three. The call from home plate umpire Dan Bellino didn’t come, and Freeman lined the next pitch up the middle, driving home the first of what would become four runs.
Ray failed to complete the fifth, finishing with five runs (four earned) in 4⅔ innings on his pitching line to pair with eight strikeouts. It was the second straight time Ray hasn’t made it through five, raising his ERA to 3.31 from 2.93 in the span of two starts.
Melvin was ejected following the inning, which also featured a failed challenge on the Giants’ behalf after Freeman trucked Bailey while scoring the second run of the frame. Both players walked away OK, but Ramos’ throw led Bailey into the base path, and video review determined that Freeman didn’t deviate from his route, upholding the call.
“I felt like he was out of that inning,” Melvin said. “Obviously it didn’t work out, but it’s too bad. Because the inning’s over there and he can go out the next inning and do what he had been doing the entire game.”