What we learned as Chapman, Birdsong spark Giants’ win vs. D-backs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
PHOENIX — The Post-Elimination Giants have turned into the squad nobody wants to face.
After taking five of six from two American League contenders, the Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals, the Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-3 on Monday night at Chase Field to inch closer to .500. They’re 78-79 with five to go, and on Tuesday they’ll line up behind ace Logan Webb while also looking for their first five-game winning streak.
The highlight of a line-drive-filled night in Phoenix was Matt Chapman’s inside-the-park homer, which gave the Giants the lead in the third inning. Chapman later added a triple, becoming the first Giant since Monte Irvin in 1953 to accomplish both in one game. It hasn’t been done in MLB since 2017, when Washington’s Michael A. Taylor had both against the Phillies.
Chapman’s homer was one of three on the night for the Giants, who continue to play spoiler. The Diamondbacks dropped into the third wild-card spot, although they still have a 1 1/2 game lead over the Braves.
Dad Speed
Chapman’s inside-the-parker went 407 feet to left-center and hit halfway up the wall in the deepest part of the yard. According to Statcast it would have been a home run in 26 MLB ballparks, but poor Chapman, who probably hasn’t slept much over the past week, had to motor 360 feet to get No. 27.
Chapman had a sprint speed of 29 feet per second; anything at 30 or above is considered elite. He went home-to-home in 15.7 seconds.
Since Barry Bonds hit 30 homers in 2004, only four Giants have even reached 27 in a season. Chapman joined Brandon Belt (29 in 2021), Bonds (28 in 2007) and Hunter Pence (27 in 2013).
Bird Is The Word
If that was it for Hayden Birdsong, he certainly went out on a high note. In his 15th big league start, Birdsong allowed two runs on four hits over five innings, earning his fifth win. He struck out six and ran his fastball up to 98 mph while showing off a nasty changeup.
Birdsong has now thrown 125 innings across three levels, a bump of about 25 percent from his 2023 minor league total. He’s in line to potentially pitch Sunday’s 2024 MLB season finale, but the Giants also could give that assignment to Webb.
Finishing Strong
Michael Conforto will be a free agent at the end of the season, and the Giants are unlikely to bring him back given their looming logjam in the outfield. They have Jung Hoo Lee and Heliot Ramos locked into spots, with Mike Yastrzemski potentially coming back and Luis Matos, Grant McCray and Marco Luciano also in the mix. That’s before they even get to free agency.
The Giants could use Conforto as a DH, but they didn’t love having one player in that spot when Jorge Soler was here, so Conforto is likely to find his best opportunity elsewhere.
Bob Melvin keeps running him out there and he’s taking advantage. Conforto hit a 430-foot bomb off lefty Eduardo Rodriguez and later added a double.
He’s just one homer from reaching 20 for the first time since 2019, although if he wants to get there, he should probably hurry. The Giants have two more games on the road, where Conforto has hit 16 of his 19 homers.
