SAN FRANCISCO — The guttural roar on the shores of McCovey Cove half past 4 on Saturday afternoon was no ordinary home run celebration. Even for a grand slam, the response was disproportionate. This was an entire fan base’s worth of pent-up anxiety untethered on one swing from Matt Chapman.
What a glorious swing it was, connecting with a belt-high heater from Cincinnati starter Nick Lodolo and driving it over the 399′ sign, into the sun-soaked center-field bleachers, where fans rejoiced over the big hit their team had seemingly lacked since the earliest days of the season.
The grand slam was about all the offense the Giants got, but it was all they needed to beat the Reds, 5-1, and pick up their first win in eight times through Blake Snell’s rotation spot, filled for a second consecutive start by rookie right-hander Mason Black.
The crowd of 37,321 didn’t sit down until Chapman returned to the dugout. They gave him a second round of cheers when the inning concluded.
It was one of the Giants’ most productive of the season, scoring more runs in one inning than they had in 12 of their past 15 games. They had been held to three runs or fewer in 23 of their 40 games entering Saturday, more often than any team except the Cardinals and White Sox.
Tacking on one more with a sacrifice fly from Patrick Bailey in his first game back from concussion protocol, the Giants improved to 11-0 when scoring five or more runs. No other team is undefeated when reaching that total, but only the A’s have plated at least five fewer times.
The swing from Chapman came with two strikes and two outs. If he had missed, the inning would have simply been remembered as another on a long list of missed opportunities with runners in scoring position. The Giants entered Saturday’s game batting .239 in those situations, eighth-worst in the majors. They had come to bat with the bases loaded 26 times and, besides Michael Conforto’s grand slam in the third game of the season, produced 11 runs on five hits.
When Chapman stepped in the box, more of his plate appearances over the previous 12 games had ended in strikeouts than hits. It had been 21 games since he last homered, a drought matched only four previous times in his career.
That the breakthrough came in the first inning was all the more remarkable. The Giants had scored 11 runs all season in their first trip to the plate, tied with the A’s for the second-fewest in the majors.
With one swing, Chapman helped change the tide for himself and the Giants offense while allowing Black to pitch with a lead for the bulk of his second major-league start.
Making his Oracle Park debut, Black limited the Reds to a lone run — on an Elly De La Cruz home run in the fourth inning — over 4⅔ innings before manager Bob Melvin called on Taylor Rogers to record the final out of the fifth and get out of a bases-loaded jam.
One of the most aggressive base running teams in the majors, the Reds’ philosophy backfired a day after their activity on the bases helped them to a series-opening win. On two occasions, Cincinnati batters sent singles into right field and took wide turns at first base.
First, Will Benson challenged Heliot Ramos after leading off the second. The rookie right fielder fired a rope to Casey Schmitt, who applied the tag that replay review determined beat Benson to the bag. When the message apparently wasn’t received, Ramos made the same fate of Jake Fraley for the second out of the fourth inning.
Shifting to left field when Mike Yastrzemski entered for an injured Michael Conforto, Ramos only added to his highlight reel. On a shallow pop fly from Benson in the fifth, Ramos charged hard, left his feet and made a diving catch to the surprise — and splendor — of his teammates.
Notable
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Conforto left the game in the fourth inning with right hamstring tightness, according to the club. He was lifted for a pinch-runner after singling and taking a wide turn around first base.
LaMonte Wade Jr. singled in the first inning, eventually scoring on Chapman’s grand slam, to extend his on-base streak to 12 consecutive games.
The other piece of the first-inning rally was catcher Patrick Bailey, who lined an opposite-field single in his first at-bat back from concussion protocol. With the bases loaded and one out in the seventh, Bailey drove a sacrifice fly to the warning track in center field to drive home the Giants’ only other run.
Jung Hoo Lee (bruised left foot) was held out of the lineup for a third consecutive game but went through conditioning drills pregame.
Up next
LHP Kyle Harrison (3-1, 3.20) faces RHP Frankie Montas (2-3, 3.55) in the series finale, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
