Chapman does it all to seal series win over Reds

CINCINNATI -- Matt Chapman came up clutch on both sides of the ball to help the Giants clinch a series victory with an 8-2 win over the Reds in Sunday afternoon’s series finale at Great American Ball Park.

Chapman launched a game-tying, two-run homer off Carson Spiers in the fourth inning, and then helped the Giants preserve a one-run lead with a brilliant defensive play in the bottom of the sixth.

San Francisco rallied to take a 3-2 lead behind LaMonte Wade Jr.’s go-ahead solo shot in the top of the sixth, but Cincinnati immediately threatened after the speedy Elly De La Cruz reached on a hit-by-pitch, advanced to second on a groundout and then stole third with one out.

After Ty France struck out swinging, Reds manager David Bell sent pinch-hitter TJ Friedl to face Ryan Walker, who managed to induce a 31.7 mph dribbler to the left side. Chapman, a four-time Gold Glove winner, quickly came charging in and barehanded the ball before firing to first base in time for the final out, leaving De La Cruz stranded at third.

“It kind of came off the bat funky,” Chapman said. “I was slow, but I knew it was a do-or-die play. I was trying to get a grip on it. I got a good grip on it right when I grabbed it. I knew it was spinning, so I tried to just play it on the spin a little bit, and once I got it, I just threw as hard as I could from down there. It’s nice to be able to keep the lead in that situation.”

“We see it, we get spoiled by it,” manager Bob Melvin said. “He makes it look easy. Not too many guys make that play.”

The Giants’ bats came alive late against Cincinnati’s bullpen, with Tyler Fitzgerald blasting a two-run homer that kicked off a five-run rally and put the game firmly out of reach for the Reds in the eighth. San Francisco (56-57) is now back within a game of .500 after taking two of three games in the first leg of its seven-game road trip through Cincinnati and Washington.

The Giants entered Sunday with the fifth-lowest road winning percentage (.393) in the Majors, but they hope winning their first series away from Oracle Park since July 2-4 at Atlanta will help propel them toward better results in the second half.

“To win our first series in the second half on the road is a good thing,” Melvin said. “Now, we’ve got a four-game series, which is a little tougher to win, but we’re off to a good start. We know we have to play much better on the road if we’re going to end up going where we want to go.”

Left-hander Robbie Ray delivered a solid start in his third outing since returning from Tommy John surgery, giving up two runs on three hits while striking out nine and walking one over five innings.

All the damage against Ray came on back-to-back homers by Jeimer Candelario and Santiago Espinal in the second inning, though he ended his afternoon on a high note, striking out the side to leave a runner stranded on second base in the fifth. Ray’s 86th and final pitch of the game clocked in at 97.3 mph, making it the hardest pitch he’s thrown this season.

“I feel like everything is starting to come together,” Ray said. “Everything felt good. It was just being able to buckle down in those situations with guys on base or after giving up the homers. I definitely feel close.”

The Giants erased the 2-0 deficit thanks to Chapman, who hammered a first-pitch sinker from Spiers to straightaway center field to tie the game in the fourth. It was Chapman’s second home run in as many games and his team-leading 17th on the season, matching his total with the Blue Jays last year.

“Last year, I missed some time and I hurt my hand a little bit, so I expect myself to hit more home runs than that, for sure,” Chapman said. “There’s no number I’m setting on it, but I’m glad that it’s all there. When I’m healthy, I’m able to do things like that.”

Chapman, 31, hasn’t disappointed since signing a one-year, $18 million deal with two player options over the offseason, compiling a team-high 5.0 bWAR entering Sunday while emerging as a key leader on a team that has been trending younger following the arrival of upstarts like Heliot Ramos, Fitzgerald, Casey Schmitt and Marco Luciano.

“He’s great,” Ray said. “He’s a leader, a veteran on this team. Vocal. He plays 100 percent on every single play. It shows. The play that he made at third base today to save that run was huge.”