Schmitt keeps up historic start, Conforto homers again as SF Giants snap losing streak vs. Phillies
Casey Schmitt added two more hits to his tally and kickstarted a six-run second-inning rally, which Michael Conforto punctuated with his fourth home run in six games.
SAN FRANCISCO — With two more line-drive base hits Monday, Casey Schmitt continued his blazing start to his big-league career. And unlike most of his impressive first week in the majors, his teammates followed and provided enough support to pick up a win, too.
Schmitt led off a six-run second inning with the first of his pair of hits and Michael Conforto homered for the fourth time in six games to put an exclamation point on the rally, leading the Giants to a 6-3 win over the Phillies. The win opened a six-game home stand, snapped a three-game losing streak and improved San Francisco’s record to 18-23.
Schmitt added a double in the fifth inning, giving him five multi-hit efforts in his first seven MLB games. The Giants haven’t had a player since 1970 start his career with as many hits as Schmitt (13-for-27) in his first seven games, and only three in the history of the franchise can claim as hot of a start to their careers — one being Willie McCovey.
The 24-year-old defensive whiz debuted last Tuesday with a bang, becoming the 19th Giants player to hit a home run for his first hit in his first game, and didn’t slow down. Even after going hitless for the first time Sunday, Schmitt took a .458 batting average and 1.261 OPS into Monday’s series opener.
But the Giants had yet to take full advantage of the infusion of energy — and offensive firepower — to their batting order. In Schmitt’s first six games, they went 2-4.
Then, in the second inning, something happened. Schmitt led off with a line drive single into right field, an opposite-field base hit that has become a routine sight in only a week’s time. But Joey Bart followed by getting on base. Bryce Johnson slapped a single up the middle. That turned the lineup over to Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores, who each put the ball in play and forced misplays out of Philadelphia’s defense.
Conforto delivered the big blow, sending a towering three-run shot sailing just over the left-field wall. The homer, Conforto’s fourth in six games, put the Giants ahead for good, but J.D. Davis immediately extended the rally with double down the right field line, and Mitch Haniger and Brandon Crawford each padded the lead with RBI singles.
All but one of the six hits in the inning were to the opposite field.
Every member of the starting lineup reached base, and all but one (Bart) contributed at least one hit.
In addition to Schmitt, the Giants have gotten prodigious power from Conforto over the past week. With two hits and another homer Monday, the free-agent pick up has his average back over the Mendoza line (.205) and his OPS up to .744. His eight home runs lead the team, and only one other player (Evan Longoria) has hit as many homers in any six-game stretch since Gabe Kapler took over as manager.
The Phillies went with a right-handed opener in the first inning. But Kapler nonetheless stacked the Giants’ lineup with right-handed bats in preparation for the young left-hander, Bailey Falter, expected to taken down most of the game. They pounced in the second.
The six-run second matched the Giants’ largest rally of the season and their best offensive inning outside of the juiced scoring environment in Mexico City.
It proved to be more than enough behind a strong outing from Alex Wood in his return to the rotation.
Making his first start since straining his hamstring on April 18, Wood settled in after an early two-run homer to nearly make it through five innings. Wood made one rehab start and one appearance out of the bullpen and was working on a pitch count Monday but still completed 4⅔ frames, limiting the Phillies to two runs on four hits.
Wood struck out four but was bitten by his only walk, issuing a free pass to lead off the second to Kyle Schwarber, who came home to score on a two-run blast to left-center from Alec Bohm. But Philadelphia didn’t lead for long, as the Giants exploded for six runs in their next trip to the plate.