KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Don’t look now, but are the Giants suddenly a force to be reckoned with in the early innings?
Since hitting the road after their latest home stand, the Giants have scored first in all five contests and once again built an early and overpowering lead while slugging five home runs on a steamy afternoon at Kaufmann Stadium to secure their fourth win of the trip, 9-0, and clinch their third consecutive road series.
Matt Chapman and LaMonte Wade Jr. went back-to-back to lead off the fourth inning and each added another homer before Mike Yastrzemski turned it into a rout with a two-run shot in the sixth. All nine of the Giants’ runs came in the first six innings, bringing their total on the trip to 19, tied for the fifth-most in the majors dating back to Tuesday’s 10-0 win in Baltimore.
When the Giants boarded their charter flight for their final road trip of the season, they were having a hard time scoring in any portion of the game, having been shut out their past three games. But over the course of the season, their offensive troubles have been magnified in the early innings.
They had scored 412 runs in the first six innings, fifth-fewest in the majors, and 241 in the seventh or later, tied for the seventh-most.
But the trend has turned in the opposite direction over the past five games, to positive effect.
San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Landen Roupp throws during the third inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
The early run support powered one rookie starter, Mason Black, to his first career win Friday night and a second, Landen Roupp, on Saturday.
The Royals put runners on base in all five of Roupp’s innings but weren’t able to cash in against the 26-year-old right-hander, who used a heavy dose of his lethal curveball to complete five shutout innings, limiting Kansas City to three hits and three walks while striking out three.
In 22 games, Roupp owns a 2.70 ERA and has been even better since moving into the starting rotation at the start of September. Including his four-inning stint out of the bullpen that prompted the move, he has logged 19 frames while allowing just two runs — a 0.95 ERA — on 11 hits.
The Giants’ five home runs tied their most in one game all season, matching their April 13 win at Tampa Bay, while Chapman and Wade’s power display accomplished an ever rarer feat. It was the first time two Giants players hit multiple home runs in one game since Thairo Estrada and Joc Pederson on June 11, 2023.
Chapman, a new dad, and Wade, who had 120-plus friends and family in the stands in Baltimore, were both riding emotional highs. As for Yastrzemski, well, he’s just been hot. His two-run shot in the sixth was his seventh homer of the month, tying a career-high and giving him 18 on the year.
Chapman only arrived in Kansas City hours before gametime Saturday after his wife, Taylor, gave birth to their first daughter, Gia, on Thursday. With seven games left, he could set his sights on a notable number in Giants lore: the 30-homer threshold, which no San Francisco hitter has reached since Barry Bonds.
Chapman’s pair of homers brought his season total to 26, becoming just the fourth Giant to reach that total since 2010. It was his second multi-homer game of the year after also going yard twice in the second game of the season in San Diego.
Wade had not hit multiple homers in one game since July 25, 2021, when the Giants’ power output at first base looked quite a bit different. Wade’s homers gave him eight on the season and brought the Giants’ total from their first basemen to 14, moving them from second-fewest in the majors into a tie for the fifth-fewest.
In 2021, when Brandon Belt slugged 29 homers, the Giants’ first basemen led the league with 48 long balls and ranked 10th with 106 RBIs. With a pair of solo shots, Wade increased his RBI total to 33, and the Giants have gotten 61 total from their first basemen, tied for the fourth-fewest in the majors.
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Notable
IF Marco Luciano was optioned to Triple-A to clear a roster spot for Chapman, who was activated from the paternity list. But with only one game left in the River Cats’ season, Luciano will report to Arizona, where he will begin taking reps in the outfield for the first time in his career, manager Bob Melvin said.
Up next
Rain is in the forecast for most of Sunday, but if they play the series finale it will feature LHP Blake Snell (4-3, 3.31) against RHP Seth Lugo (16-8, 3.05). If weather renders the game unplayable, it could create a chaotic chain of events as the Royals are in the thick of the AL wild card race but don’t share any remaining off days with the Giants. First pitch is scheduled for 11:10 a.m. PT.
