ARLINGTON, Texas — Since losing Jung Hoo Lee and LaMonte Wade Jr., Bob Melvin has been on a quest to find the right combination at the top of the Giants’ lineup, cycling nine different players through the first two spots just in their past 10 games.
Teaming up Saturday to manufacture all three of the Giants’ runs, Heliot Ramos and Austin Slater might have some staying power.
The contributions from the top of the order led the way to a 3-1 victory over the Rangers, securing at least a series win in the building Bruce Bochy now calls home. The Giants will go for their first series sweep away from Oracle Park and attempt to even their record back to .500 in Sunday’s finale, with Keaton Winn set to make his return.
Leading off against the lefty Andrew Heaney, Slater reached safely each of his first two times to the plate and didn’t spend much time on the bases. Both times, he was promptly driven in by Ramos, who laced a 106-mph double into left field in his first at-bat and launched his sixth home run of the season his second time up.
It’s the same combination that started things in the Giants’ 9-3 win Wednesday in Arizona, their best offensive output in two weeks.
With two more knocks, Ramos recorded his 12th multi-hit game since being called up on May 8, raising his OPS to .973. The only players who have taken at least 100 at-bats with a better mark make up some of the game’s most-feared hitters: Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Marcell Ozuna (and David Fry, of the Guardians).
His six home runs are tied for fifth on the team, despite playing in 15 fewer games than anybody even or ahead of him.
In his short time, Ramos has made a strong case to return to this ballpark next month when it hosts the All-Star Game. In the National League, there have been only four outfielders more valuable this season than Ramos, who gave the others a six-week head start.
It’s been a different story for Slater, who has received his fair share of scorn from the fan base to start the season. Before missing 19 games with a concussion, Slater was batting .128 with a .434 OPS. But he has recorded hits in each of his first two games back, reaching base twice Saturday for only the second time in 26 games.
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After the first two spots, the rest of the Giants lineup combined for three hits and 10 strikeouts in 26 at-bats, with a pair of walks.
The offensive effort from the top of the lineup supported a third consecutive strong showing from Spencer Howard — but his first this season as a starter. Rebounding from issuing walks to the first two batters he faced, Howard limited the Rangers to one run over 4⅔ innings, coming one out shy of earning his fourth career win.
In three appearances for the Giants, Howard has yet to allow more than two runs and has a 2.03 ERA. Making his success even sweeter, it has come against two teams — the Phillies and now the Rangers — that cast him aside, allowing the Giants to scoop him up as a minor-league free agent last September.
Up next
RHP Keaton Winn (2-2, 6.17) returns from a three-week absence with forearm tightness to face RHP Nathan Eovaldi (2-2, 2.70) in the series finale, with first pitch scheduled for 10:05 a.m. PT, airing exclusively on The Roku Channel.
