Chapman joins exclusive Giants club with latest big game

PHOENIX -- If anyone ever has earned the right to watch a deep fly ball sail for a few seconds, it was Matt Chapman in the third inning. 

The Giants officially were eliminated from the MLB playoff race last week despite Chapman's best efforts. He has played in 149 of 157 games, missing time only because of a slight hamstring strain, the birth of his daughter and the need to take a physical before putting ink to paper on a six-year contract extension. His first child isn't even a week old, and the trip from Kansas City to Phoenix on Sunday night reunited father and daughter, which was great, but also probably pretty exhausting.

When Chapman blasted an Eduardo Rodriguez fastball to left-center, he could have assumed it was a homer. It would have been in 26 other parks. 

But the ball hit off the wall and bounced away from center fielder Jake McCarthy, and because Chapman never stopped to watch, he was ready when Giants third-base coach Matt Williams waved him home. He slid in ahead of the throw for an inside-the-parker that was the highlight of a 6-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, the sixth in seven games on this road trip. 

The Giants are going nowhere even if they win their final five, but they're hopeful that this spirited finish can carry over to next year. At the very least, they know they'll line up behind a third baseman who sets the tone every single day. Manager Bob Melvin wasn't at all surprised to see Chapman racing hard enough around second that it was an easy call for Williams. 

"He doesn't know another way, but it's just showing everybody how we expect to play down the road," Melvin said. "That's what he has always meant to me. In Oakland, as well, as a rookie and his entire time there -- that's just kind of what comes along with him, and that's why everybody loves watching him play. There's one pace to him, it's the only pace he knows. It's all out, all the time."

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It's more pace than one might expect from a 31-year-old infielder. Chapman ranks in the 85th percentile in sprint speed, the kind of athleticism that made it easier for the Giants to commit to him through the rest of this decade. He later added a triple, becoming the first Giant since Monte Irvin in 1953 to have a triple and inside-the-park homer in the same game. 

Irvin did it at the Polo Grounds, so he had a bit more space to work with, but Chapman knew that Chase Field could provide him with enough running room as he watched the ball slam off the wall and bounce back toward right field. On NBC Sports Bay Area's "Giants Postgame Live," he called the 360-foot journey "tiring" but "a lot of fun."

"It's big out there to center, so off the bat I didn't think I got all of it. It was an inside fastball and I just tried to get the barrel to it," Chapman explained. "Once I saw that he missed that ball I turned it on, and I was really hoping Matty was going to wave me and I was digging. That was a lot of fun, and it was obviously nice to get those two runs right there and fire the boys up."

The homer, his 27th of the 2024 MLB season, gave the Giants the lead. They would get two more -- one from Casey Schmitt and one from Michael Conforto -- on another night filled with line drives, clean defense and solid pitching. The win was their sixth in seven games on this road trip and gave them a real chance to finish the season at .500. 

The Giants have taken off since the pressure of trying to stay alive was lifted. Next season, they'll count on Chapman to make sure they're not in this situation again. For as promising as this last week has been, it's also an unfortunate reminder of what this season could have been.

Chapman was part of a star-studded free-agent class that was supposed to lead the organization back to the playoffs. Instead, the Giants are playing spoiler, but they're pretty good at it and they're hopeful that their young players don't forget what this winning streak has felt like.

There was a different vibe around the clubhouse before Monday's game. Even the always-serious Williams had a smile on his face as he exchanged jokes with young players before batting practice. Chapman made sure he was smiling in the third inning, too, although there was likely nothing Williams could have done to slow him down. Chapman intended to try for four regardless. 

"I think I would have, with that momentum I had going," he said. "I wanted it." 

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