Fitzgerald continues Bonds-like run, Chapman adds homer in DC

WASHINGTON -- The left side of the Giants' infield is hot at the plate. If Monday night was any indication, it will not be cooling off anytime soon.

Shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald and third baseman Matt Chapman wasted no time and combined their power to slug two homers early in the 4-1 victory over the Nats at Nationals Park.

Fitzgerald immediately put pressure on the Nationals in his first plate appearance of the night. Washington starter Patrick Corbin's first pitch was a strike, but his second offering was what Fitzgerald was looking for, and the reigning Rookie of the Month crushed a 90.5 mph sinker, burying it 416 feet into left-center field with a 103.2 mph exit velocity.

“You see some pitchers better than others and I had some success against him earlier in the year,” Fitzgerald said. “I just took some of that approach [and] was able to get under it this time and drive it so pretty happy with the day overall.”

The knock was the first leadoff dinger of his career.

With the hit, he became the first Giant with 11 home runs in a 17-game stretch since Barry Bonds, who completed the feat between July 2-24, 2003, and the fourth shortstop in AL/NL history to do so, joining Trea Turner in 2023, Troy Tulowitzki in 2010 and Alex Rodríguez in 2002.

“He’s going to be in the Hall of Fame if he continues at this pace,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We like what we see and after a little bit of a spurt where he wasn’t swinging great, maybe four or five games, he’s picked it up again and that’s what you want to see.”

Fitzgerald said that he’s been doing nothing different in overall approach resulting in hitting dingers consistently, but that he is enjoying adding on to his streak. From the dugout, his teammates and coaching staff are admiring his work as well.

“He’s been pretty fun to watch,” said Giants starter Logan Webb. “It’s not just at the plate; he’s been doing it all over, every game on defense too. He’s diving for balls, making every play, it’s just the whole [thing]. I’m just excited for him.”

Webb was able to hold the Nationals off the scoreboard long enough for Chapman’s third-inning three-run shot. Corbin's first pitch to Chapman was a 67.8 mph slider. Chapman smashed the slower pitch with a 107.9 mph exit velocity for a three-run home run.

“It was one of the slower breaking balls I’ve been throwing,” Corbin said. “It just got a little bit too much of the plate inside. It’s been a good pitch – a lot of hitters seem to take it or don’t have the best of swings on it. It was just one of those where maybe he saw it his first at-bat and kind of just sat on it there.”

There have only been 16 homers in the Statcast Era for which the pitch velocity was less than 68 mph and the exit velocity was greater than 107 mph. Only four of those were off actual pitchers.

Chapman is no stranger to hitting home runs with larger differentials. On May 23, 2023, the eight-year veteran hit a 114.3 mph bomb off a 50.7 mph pitch from then-Blue Jays left fielder Luke Raley for a 63.6 mph differential. The largest differential in the Statcast Era by a non-position player pitcher was the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani's with a 117.1 mph HR off a 69.3 pitch from Zack Greinke last season (47.8).

The two impressive homers led to the victory that returned the Giants to a .500 record (57-57) for the first time since entering play on June 1 (29-29). They are 4 1/2 games out in the NL Wild Card race.

“It feels good, I think we’d like to start climbing away from that, from being .500,” Chapman said on the postgame broadcast. “So it’s a good start. Everything is right in front of us.”