SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Giants hit five home runs in their 8-6 victory against the Houston Astros on Saturday, July 31. LaMonte Wade Jr’s two-shot in the fourth inning was his first career splash hit, giving the Giants the lead.
Donovan Solano, Wilmer Flores, Wade, Darin Ruf, and Mike Yastrzemski each made a home run for the Giants, according to Major League Baseball.com. San Francisco and Houston made eight home runs all together tying for the most in a single game at Oracle Park.
Dominic Leone, Tyler Rogers, and Jake McGee combined to pitch three scoreless innings out of the bullpen to lock in the win for the Giants. The breakout hitter of this year, Wade, gave the Giants a 5-3 lead in the fourth inning by hitting a 417-foot shot over the right-field wall landing in McCovey Cove.
Wade’s mother happened to be sitting in the right-field and watched the ball travel at 107.8 mph into the cove. Cameras caught her reaction as she watched her son’s first career splash hit.
“I think the confidence is beginning to grow now,” General Manager Gabe Kapler said to MLB. “He’s starting to recognize that he is a power hitter, that he can drive the ball in the air to the pull side, that he can go deep to the opposite field, and that comes along with a package that’s pretty selectively aggressive. I think that’s a recipe for a quality Major League hitter.”
The Giants victory was not the only occasion to be celebrated that day. The team commissioned a cake shaped like a tomahawk ribeye steak for Kaplar’s 46th birthday. Kris Bryant was also expected to arrive and play his first game for the orange and black on August 1.
