What we learned as Chapman, Wade fuel Giants’ bounce-back win vs. Reds originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Matt Chapman homered for the second consecutive game, LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a tiebreaking shot in the sixth inning and Robbie Ray bounced back from a shaky outing to earn the win as the Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-2 on Sunday.
Tyler Fitzgerald added two hits, including his 11th home run, to help the Giants to their first series win on the road since early July. Michael Conforto chipped in with three hits and two RBI.
The Giants (56-57) have won eight of their last 11 games.
Chapman, San Francisco’s hottest hitter over the past two weeks, connected for a two-run home run after nearly taking himself out of the game earlier in the day when he fouled a ball hard off his left shin during his first at-bat.
Wade, batting on top of the Giants’ lineup as manager Bob Melvin searches for a consistent leadoff hitter, hit his first home run since July 2. He also singled in the eighth and ninth.
Ray (2-1) and four relievers made it hold up. Ray allowed three hits over five innings while notching a season-high nine strikeouts with one walk.
Ryan Walker, Erik Miller, Tyler Rogers and Spencer Bivens combined for four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while closing it out.
The Giants played without center fielder Heliot Ramos, who sat out nursing a sore thumb that he aggravated a day earlier.
Here are the takeaways from Sunday’s game:
Ray’s Day
The Reds got to Ray for a couple of hard-hit home runs but otherwise couldn’t get much going off the Giants’ starting pitcher.
Making his third start since coming off the Injured List, Ray had a season-high nine strikeouts. He was especially sharp with his off-speed pitches, getting 15 of his 18 swing-and-misses from his slider and curveball.
Ray’s best moment of the game came in the fifth inning after center fielder Mike Yastrzemski narrowly missed making a diving catch. The Reds got a runner to third base with one out but the Giants’ lefty calmy pitched out of the jam by getting swinging strikeouts of Luke Maile and Jonathan India.
Chapman On A Roll
With two more hits Sunday, Chapman continues to be a shining light in a Giants’ lineup that has been underwhelming for most of the season.
San Francisco’s clean-up hitter went deep for the second consecutive day at Great American Ball Park, clubbing his team-leading 17th home run in the fourth inning. The two-run blast off Reds starter Carson…