SAN FRANCISCO — When Luis Matos debuted as the second-youngest player in the majors last June, “Matos Mania” was born. The Venezuelan outfield phenom collected hits and scored runs at a rate that put him in the same conversation as Willie McCovey in franchise history.
Matos is now almost a year older. He has about 20 pounds of extra muscle.
And with six more RBIs in the Giants’ 14-4 win over the Rockies on Saturday, Matos outdid even more exclusive company.
This time around, the Hall of Famer keeping the young Giants outfielder company is Orlando Cepeda, who held the franchise record for most runs scored in a two-game streak at age 22 or least with nine between June 3 and 4, 1959.
Matos had already tied Cepeda when he entered the game in the eighth inning, then added two more RBIs to his ledger with his third hit of the afternoon. He has 11 RBIs in his last two games, tying Jack Clark and Bill Terry for the franchise record.
“Man, that’s a lot of RBIs,” said his astonished and grateful manager, Bob Melvin.
“I’m just trying to get on base for him,” added Matt Chapman, who reached base five times and was brought home twice by Matos.
The offensive infusion provided by the rookie, who was only recalled on Sunday, propelled the Giants to a third straight victory, something they had not done in their first 46 games of the season. They were last of 30 teams in the league still looking for a three-game winning streak after Colorado ripped off seven in a row before this series.
After accounting for five of the Giants’ ten points in their victory Friday night, Matos wasted no time adding to his total the following afternoon.
Stepping up to the plate in the bottom of the first with Chapman and Thairo Estrada at second and third, Matos cleared the bases with one strike, hitting a cutter left over the plate by Rockies starter Ty Blach into the left field bleachers for his second home. progress of the season.
“It seems like he’s following the ball every time,” Melvin said. “He is aggressive. He fills that gap at left center. … It’s like the player of the week thing he’s doing right now.
The home run gave Kyle Harrison a 3-0 lead to work with, and Matos drove in another run – again Chapman – with a double on his next trip to the plate that made it 6-3 after that the Rockies cut the lead in the top half of the third.
Pitching on an extra day of rest, Harrison gave the Giants five innings on 79 pitches, striking out four, walking two and giving up three runs on five hits, but that was enough for San Francisco to win for the seventh straight time in 22 years old. -the old lefty took the mound.
“I would have liked him to come back, but at that point it seemed like they were putting him in his face a little bit towards the end,” Melvin said. “You look at it and it’s five innings and only three runs, two walks, they had some good swings and made him work pretty hard.”
Despite only playing a fraction of the games, Matos has already scored more points than anyone on the team except Estrada (25), Chapman (20) or Michael Conforto (20). . In fact, his 17 RBIs are more than anyone in franchise history has totaled in their first six games of a season with a plate appearance.
Led by Matos, the Giants’ sleepy offense woke up the last two games against a Rockies pitching staff that had held opponents to 13 earned runs in 63 innings, a 1.86 ERA, during the seven-game streak. consecutive victories that Colorado has won in the series.
“It’s not just (Matos); it happened one after the other,” Melvin said. “All the guys you hear about – the guys in our system – now have a chance with the big league team and probably have their best chance ever. It was a burst of energy for us and a very good feeling in the dugout.
After scoring in double figures just once in the previous 45 games, they did so in each of the last two games, totaling 24 runs on 32 hits.
Jorge Soler, making his second start after a right shoulder injury, has seemingly rediscovered his talent for driving in races. Arriving twice with runners in scoring position, the designated hitter delivered an RBI each time. He had been 3 for 26 (.115) in those situations before being placed on injured reserve.
Soler’s RBI double in the second inning rocketed 114 mph off the bat, the hardest hit ball by a Giants hitter this season.
The Giants’ nine doubles were their most in any game since moving to San Francisco, which hadn’t been done since a 1912 meeting at Ebbets Field against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
And even though Matos has been swinging the bat, he hasn’t even led the team in hits over the last two games.
That distinction belongs to Chapman, who went 4-for-4 and scored three points after going 3-for-4 and scoring three times the night before. The two games alone were enough to increase Chapman’s batting average to .236 from .206 and his OPS to .676 from .599.
“It can be a little streaky at times; now you see what he has to offer,” said Melvin, who managed Chapman for five seasons in Oakland. “I was shooting for a five-hit game, but he had a walk and didn’t try to do too much. He gets better balls to hit and uses the whole court.
“Usually that’s what he does when he swings the bat well. But that’s who he is. He had a great career and we were lucky to have him.
Notable
As expected, the Giants transferred Jung Hoo Lee (torn labrum) to the 60-day injured list and used the open spot on the 40-man roster to add depth on the field, claiming OF Ryan McKenna on Orioles waivers. McKenna, 25, is a career .224/.302/.332 hitter with over 517 plate appearances in MLB and can play all three outfield positions.
Blake Snell (adductor strain) will make his next start for the Giants, with a “good chance” of it being Wednesday at Pittsburgh, Melvin said. In two rehab starts for Single-A San Jose and Triple-A Sacramento, Snell struck out 19 batters in nine innings while allowing one hit and not allowing a walk.
Alex Cobb (flexor strain) likely won’t be ready for activation when he becomes eligible next Monday. He has yet to return to throwing after suffering his latest setback and “there just hasn’t been any progress,” Melvin said. “He still feels it a little bit in his shoulder and we don’t really know what the cause is.”
Following
RHP Jordan Hicks (3-1, 2.44) vs. RHP Dakota Hudson (1-6, 6.13) Sunday in the series finale, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
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