SF Giants’ Tyler Fitzgerald continues ‘weird’ stretch with two homers in big win
Tyler Fitzgerald homered twice against the Rockies, becoming the first Giant to homer seven times in eight games since Barry Bonds
SAN FRANCISCO — The English language contains dozens of adjectives that can be used to describe what Tyler Fitzgerald is doing right now. Astonishing and amazing. Astounding and confounding. Surprising and mesmerizing. But following the first multi-homer game of his career, a feat that puts his name, once again, in the same sentence as Barry Bonds, Fitzgerald repeatedly used an odd descriptor: weird.
“It’s just one of those things that’s weird,” Fitzgerald said. “Baseball’s a weird sport.”
Whatever Fitzgerald wants to call it, the Giants are happy to have it.
Fitzgerald deposited two home runs into the left-field bleachers as the Giants handily defeated the Rockies, 11-4, on Friday night at Oracle Park, giving the infielder seven homers in his last eight games — a feat that no Giant has accomplished since Bonds in April 2004. With Jorge Soler and Heliot Ramos also homering and Kyle Harrison matching his career-high of 11 strikeouts, San Francisco enjoyed a dominant win on the heels of losing three of four in Los Angeles. And as the Giants fight for the postseason, they’d love for more of Fitzgerald’s weirdness to ensue.
“It’s just one of those weird things that kind of happens,” said Fitzgerald, who also drove in a career-high 4 RBIs. “God’s got plans in store for me, I guess. I don’t know what to say about it.”
If anything, Fitzgerald is running out of things to say, of hypotheses to present. In Los Angeles, amidst the Giants dropping three of four to the Dodgers, Fitzgerald became the first rookie in franchise history to homer in five straight games, as well as the first Giant, generally, since Bonds. Now the owner of a 1.060 OPS, Fitzgerald may not have known what to say after his latest power display, but Harrison, who allowed one earned run across 6 2/3 innings, offered plenty.
“That’s the guy you need to be talking about,” Harrison said. “That second home run, I was just sitting there like I couldn’t believe it. I’m like, ‘Is this guy real?’ … Can’t say enough good things about that guy. I wish the best for him. He’s killing it.”
Added manager Bob Melvin: “He’s got a little Heliot Ramos thing going on right now. … He’s relaxed now. He’s getting consistent playing time. There’s a ton of ability there. There’s power, there’s speed, he plays multiple positions. There’s a lot to like.”
Hot streaks of this nature aren’t entirely new to Fitzgerald. This past May, Fitzgerald hit six home runs in a five-game stretch with Triple-A Sacramento. He had five homers in six games with Double-A Richmond in July 2022, as well as four home runs in five games with High-A Eugene in August 2021. This streak, though, is its own beast.
“I’m seeing the ball really well,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m seeing the spin. I’m seeing everything they throw at me. I’m just going up there and trying to do damage. Earlier in the year when I wasn’t playing much, I was just trying to get on base. Now, I’m going up there not to hit a homer, but swing a little bit harder and trying to do damage like the like the coaches are wanting me to do.”
Along with Fitzgerald, Soler and Ramos did their share of damage, too, helping give the Giants their first four-homer game since April 13 (five). Soler launched a leadoff long ball more than halfway up the left-field bleachers to give the Giants an early lead that they’d never lose, while Ramos hit a three-run dagger in the eighth.
Soler isn’t on the same plane as Fitzgerald, but he’s heating up as well. With two singles and a walk along with the homer, Soler has reached base multiple times in his last four games, as well as recorded a free pass in his last five games. The Giants need a lot to go right just to get to .500, and consistent production from Soler at the top of the order would help that cause.
“Leadoff juice, man; that’s what it’s all about right there,” Harrison said of Soler. “Once I saw that swing, it gave me that much more confidence to go ahead and attack the hitters in the second inning.”
Harrison appears to have plenty of confidence whenever he matches up against the Rockies. In five career outings against Colorado — four of which have been this season — Harrison has allowed seven earned runs over 28 innings (2.25 ERA) with 27 strikeouts.
“I think it’s just me,” Harrison said. “I think I just go out there and it’s my stuff against theirs. It doesn’t matter what team. That’s the way you have to look at it. Any given day, any team can beat you. You have to be on top of your stuff and command the zone and put guys out when you can.”