Matos' milestone HR lifts Giants closer to 1st place

SAN FRANCISCO -- Luis Matos has impressed with his poise since debuting with the Giants on June 14, but the 21-year-old outfielder made a couple of rookie mistakes on Saturday afternoon.

Matos was picked off at first base by D-backs right-hander Merrill Kelly after reaching on a one-out single in the fourth inning. Then he overthrew the cutoff man on a deep fly ball to center field in the sixth, allowing two runners to move into scoring position.

But Matos made up for those mistakes with one ferocious swing of the bat, launching his first career home run -- a go-ahead two-run blast off Kelly in the sixth -- to lift red-hot San Francisco to a 7-6 win over Arizona at Oracle Park.

After coming out on top in the back-and-forth affair, the Giants (44-33) have won 12 of their past 13 games to pull within 1 1/2 games of the first-place D-backs (46-32) in the National League West.

The division rivals traded leads three times over the first five innings before Matos put the Giants ahead for good in the sixth. After Brandon Crawford reached on a leadoff single, Matos snapped a 5-5 tie by hammering a 2-0 fastball from Kelly into the left-field corner for the milestone blast, becoming the youngest Giant to homer since Matt Williams in 1987.

“I was really excited, more than anything because it came at home,” Matos said in Spanish. “I knew it had the distance to go out. I just wanted to make sure it stayed fair.”

Matos, who is ranked as the Giants’ No. 3 prospect by MLB Pipeline, is known primarily as a contact hitter, but he flashed his power potential on his first homer, which left his bat at 101 mph and traveled a Statcast-projected 354 feet. He’s scored 11 runs through his first 10 career games, matching Willie McCovey for the most in franchise history.

“It feels like [Matos is] going to be able to put the ball in play,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “He’s got really good bat-to-ball skills, a really good understanding of where the sweet spot is on the bat. That showed with the line-drive single to right and, of course, the big home run that put us up for good. It’s nice to have a hitter down at the bottom of the lineup that can do that kind of damage.

“I don’t necessarily consider him to be a big power hitter right now, but he may develop into one.”

Kapler said Matos’ ability to come through for the Giants despite his struggles earlier in the game speaks to his mental toughness and his ability to stay locked in at the plate.

“I think that’s worthy of noticing,” Kapler said. “The first part of the game doesn’t go particularly smoothly, but he kind of stays in control with his wits about him and is able to do some damage for us later in the game. It’s a good signal.”

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. brought the D-backs within one run with a two-out RBI single in the top of the ninth, but closer Camilo Doval struck out Pavin Smith with a pair of runners on to end the game and secure his NL-leading 22nd save. The Giants used seven relievers in their 12th bullpen game this season, with twins Taylor and Tyler Rogers combining for three scoreless innings to provide a key bridge to Doval in the ninth.

With his first home run now under his belt, Matos has crossed off most of his big milestone moments, though he’s still waiting for one particularly meaningful one. A native of Bobures, Venezuela, Matos has yet to play in front of his parents, Jose Luis and Yoelis, since signing with the Giants as a teenager in 2018.

Matos’ parents recently traveled to the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil, to apply for a visa to visit their son, but they were declined, putting those plans on hold. Matos said he plans to give his first hit and his first home run balls to his parents, who hope to try again soon.

“They told me to stay focused on playing baseball,” Matos said. “God willing, they’ll be here soon.”