What we learned as Chapman’s bat powers Giants’ sweep of Rockies

What we learned as Chapman’s bat powers Giants’ sweep of Rockies originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO – Casey Schmitt homered, Matt Chapman had two hits and two RBIs, and six Giants pitchers combined for a solid afternoon on the mound during Sunday’s 5-4 win over the Colorado Rockies.

Chapman reached base four times behind three singles and a walk. Jorge Soler also had three hits while Michael Conforto and newcomer Derek Hill added two hits apiece.

It’s San Francisco’s first four-game sweep since 2022 and the first at Oracle Park since 2021.

The victory was the 1,570th of Bob Melvin’s managerial career, moving him within one of tying Hall of Famer Dick Williams for 24^th all-time.

Schmitt got the Giants going early with his third home run of the season, a towering solo shot into the stands in the first inning that had an exit velo of 107.9 mph and was estimated at 422 feet.

San Francisco tacked on in the second with three consecutive two-out extra-base hits. Michael Conforto doubled and scored on Derek Hill’s first triple since 2021. Jorge Soler followed with a ground-rule double that put the Giants ahead 3-0.

Colorado scored its first run off Randy Rodriguez (3-1) in the fourth inning then got to Jordan Hicks for another run in the seventh. Hicks, the long-time reliever who was signed as a free agent to join San Francisco’s starting rotation, was supposed to start Sunday but was scratched late in order to strengthen the Giants’ bullpen that was taxed heavily following Saturday’s doubleheader.

The Rockies loaded the bases with two outs against Spencer Bivens in the eighth before the right-hander got Brendan Rodgers to hit into a fielder’s choice groundout.

Camilo Doval allowed a run in the ninth and the Rockies got the tying run to second before the Giants’ closer struck out Sam Hilliard then got Ezequiel Tovar to ground out for his 20^th save.

Here are the takeaways from Sunday’s game:

It’s Miller Time

When the decision was made to move Jordan Hicks to the bullpen sooner than originally planned, the Giants turned to Erik Miller to make the start in the series finale against the Rockies.

Relying almost exclusively on his four-seam fastball which topped out at 97.7 mph, Miller made short work of Colorado in the first inning when he needed just 11 pitches to navigate through the frame, retiring Ezequiel Tovar on a flyout before getting back-to-back swinging strikeouts of Charlie Blackmon and Brenton Doyle.

It was the 10^th game that Miller has worked as an opener during the 2024 season. He has allowed one run over 10 2/3 innings over that span for a stingy 0.84 ERA.

The Giants are now 6-4 this season in games with Miller as the opener.

Conforto Coming Out Of Funk

Conforto, who entered the day in one of the worst hitting slumps of his career, with two hits in his previous 28 at-bats, showed definite signs of breaking out of that slump while hitting near the bottom of San Francisco’s lineup.

Batting just .125 since July 9, Conforto gave the Giants’ offense a boost with a double in the second, single in the fourth and a walk in the seventh.

Conforto’s ability to get on base is setting the table for the top of batting order, which has been producing nicely over the past week.

Two-Out Time

The Giants repeatedly came through in the clutch, generating four of their runs on two-out hits.

Both of San Francisco’s runs in the second came after the first two hitters in the inning struck out swinging. Then in the sixth, the Giants added to their lead on Chapman’s two-out single.

That’s an encouraging sign for a team that had been middle-of-the-pack when it comes to two-out production. The Giants entered the day 18^th in the majors with 162 two-out RBIs, according to the team’s media relations staff.

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