SAN FRANCISCO – Luis Matos remained the hottest hitter in manager Bob Melvin’s lineup, drilling three hits including a three-run home run to go with a career-high six RBI to pace the Giants to a 14-4 win over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday.
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Matt Chapman had four hits and scored three runs, Jorge Soler added three hits with two RBI and Marco Luciano doubled twice to help San Francisco win its third consecutive game in front of a crowd of 31,098 at Oracle Park.
The Giants (22-25) set a season-high for scoring and are the last MLB team to finally reach a three-game winning streak this season.
Kyle Harrison (4-1) pitched five uneven innings to get the win, only his third decision in his last eight outings.
San Francisco also got a nice lift out of the bullpen. After Ryan Walker gave up one run in his only inning of relief, Erik Miller and Tyler Rogers both pitched themselves in and out of jams and combined to strand four runners on base. Taylor Rogers worked a scoreless ninth to secure the team win.
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The Giants improved to 14-0 when scoring five runs or more, the only team in the majors with a perfect record when putting up at least five on the scoreboard.
San Francisco collected a season-high 18 hits and scored in each of the first three innings, then put up single runs in the sixth and seventh before batting around and tallying six runs in the eighth -- an encouraging sign for an offense that has been in a season-long scoring slump.
Most of the damage came off former Giants pitcher Ty Blach. Blach (1-2), who spent parts of four seasons in San Francisco, lasted only three innings and was tagged for six hits and seven runs
Here are the takeaways from Saturday’s game:
Matos Making Magic
If anyone was looking for a silver lining from Jung Hoo Lee’s season-ending injury, Matos has provided exactly that. One day after knocking in a career-high five RBI, Matos set another personal best Saturday.
He jumpstarted the Giants with his second home run of the season in the first inning, added an RBI double in the third then singled in a pair of runs in the eighth.
With 17 runs driven in since being recalled from the minors, Matos has established a new franchise record by any player in his first six games with at least one plate appearance. George Kelly had 14 RBI in his first six games in 1921.
Matos now has driven in at least one run in six consecutive games, the longest streak by the Giants since Evan Longoria had a six-gamer in 2021.
The young outfielder also made another tremendous defensive play with a leaping catch near the center field wall to rob Alan Trejo of a hit.
Wilmer's Funk Continues
First baseman Wilmer Flores remains in one of the biggest batting slumps of his career. The Giants slugger went hitless in two at-bats Saturday, dropping his average to .202.
Flores fouled out to first base in his first at-bat then struck out looking on four pitches his next time up. In the sixth inning, when the Giants got runners on the corners, manager Bob Melvin opted to replace Flores with pinch-hitter LaMonte Wade Jr.
Historically one of San Francisco’s best clutch hitters, Flores remains a big key to the Giants’ season. Melvin spoke optimistically before the game about the first baseman/DH breaking out of the funk soon and has no plans to remove Flores from the starting lineup.
Harrison Sputters
Harrison wasn’t quite as sharp as he had been but stuck around just long enough to get the W.
The Giants’ left-hander allowed three runs and five hits, raising his ERA to 3.50. Harrison had four strikeouts, two walks and uncorked a wild pitch.
Harrison seemed to labor throughout the afternoon, pitching with runners on base in three of his five innings of work.
The Rockies did most of their damage against Harrison in the third inning when he gave up three hits and walked one. But he got Brenton Doyle to strike out swinging to end that threat, then escaped another jam in the fifth when he retired Elehuris Montero on a two-out fly with a runner at third.
Harrison, whose only loss came on April 3 against the Dodgers, struggled somewhat with his control. Only 39 of Harrison’s 79 pitches went for strikes, although his fastball still was clocking in the low 90s when he exited.
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