Back at full strength, Giants' bats tie an SF record
DENVER -- The Giants’ position player group returned to full strength on Tuesday, with designated hitter Joc Pederson and second baseman Thairo Estrada coming off the injured list and Michael Conforto starting in right field for the first time since bruising his left heel last week.
With their reinforcements in tow, the Giants got to roll out a noticeably deeper lineup that flashed its offensive potential in the club’s first game at hitter-friendly Coors Field this year.
The Giants (30-30) pounded out 14 hits, tying a San Francisco-era record with eight doubles, to cruise to a 10-4 win over the Rockies in Tuesday night’s series opener in the Mile High City.
“We’re in Denver, so it’s a little bit different, but I’m definitely proud of the at-bats that the guys had,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “It’s an indication that when we are at our healthiest, our lineup is really deep.”
Nine of the Giants’ hits went for extra bases, though somehow none left the yard, with the club instead relying on a torrent of doubles and a season-high 11 walks to win their ninth consecutive game over the Rockies. Colorado’s pitchers were forced to throw a total of 240 pitches, the second-most in a Major League game this year.
All but one member of San Francisco’s starting lineup recorded at least one hit, with first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr., catcher Patrick Bailey and Estrada leading the way with three hits apiece. Wade reached base in each of his six plate appearances, boosting his on-base percentage to .429 -- second in the Majors behind Miami’s Luis Arraez -- while third baseman J.D. Davis also chipped in with three RBIs.
“Getting Estrada back, getting Joc back, two powerful bats back in the lineup, it’s always going to be a good thing,” Wade said. “I think we saw tonight that the offense was clicking on all cylinders.”
The Giants’ bats supported another solid effort from the bullpen, which saw five relievers combine to cover nine innings in lieu of injured starters Ross Stripling and Alex Wood. Left-hander Sean Manaea, who gave up four runs on five hits over 4 2/3 innings, served as the bulk-innings guy behind opener John Brebbia.
Bailey, the lone rookie in Tuesday’s lineup, thrived in his first career game at Coors Field, going 3-for-5 with two doubles and a triple. He just missed a home run in the Giants’ five-run fifth inning, settling for his second double of the night after his 397-foot drive to right field hit off the top of the bullpen wall.
“It’s definitely the reputation,” Bailey said of Coors Field. “That’s correct, I’d say. It’s definitely hitter-friendly. I was out of breath a lot of the game, a lot of the time on bases. But they’ve got those cool little oxygen things. Those are fun. First time I’ve ever used them. They work.”
No one was on base more than Wade, who became only the fifth Giants leadoff hitter to reach base six times in a nine-inning game. The 29-year-old showed his mastery of the strike zone by drawing three walks and also added a double and two singles. Wade has always been a disciplined hitter -- he had more walks than strikeouts in the Minors – but he believes his strike-zone awareness has gotten even better now that he’s fully past the left knee injury that hampered him at the plate last season.
"If I can't really hit it, I'm just trying to take it,” said Wade, who entered Tuesday with a 19.1% chase rate, tied for second-best in the Majors. “I don't really know where it's coming from. I think, really, it's my health. I can do everything I want on my legs, so I think that's helping me be able to see pitches well and swing at what I want to swing at.”
A scary moment unfolded in the bottom of the seventh, when Austin Slater and Mike Yastrzemski collided while attempting to chase down Jurickson Profar’s RBI triple to right-center field. Two Giants trainers came out to check on the outfielders, but both remained in the game and are expected to be OK.