SAN FRANCISCO — It’s been quite some time since the Giants had a night like this at Oracle Park.
The Giants launched four homers en route to beating the Chicago Cubs 12-3 on Wednesday night at Oracle Park, two coming off the bat of designated hitter Rafael Devers.
Matt Chapman and Heliot Ramos each hit solo homers and rookie left-hander Carson Whisenhunt picked up the second win of his career after allowing three runs over five innings.
This is the first time the Giants have won at least four straight games since July 5-8.
Devers opened up the scoring in the bottom of the first with a solo homer to give the Giants a 1-0 lead, his 26th home run of the season.
Chicago took a 3-1 lead in the top of the second on a three-run homer from Nico Hoerner, but San Francisco snatched the lead right back in the bottom of the second on an RBI ground-rule double from Devers and a pair of sacrifice flies from Willy Adames and Dominic Smith.
In the bottom of the fifth, a rather absurd sequence of plays paved the way for the Giants to take a 7-3 lead.
With two outs and Devers on first, Dominic Smith snuck a single into center field. Devers rounded second and headed for third, easing up as he approached the base, but Pete Crow-Armstrong’s throw beat Devers to the bag in plenty of time. Luckily for San Francisco, Cubs third baseman Matt Shaw could not corral the throw and Devers was safe.
That paved the way for a play straight out of a cartoon.
With Devers on third and Smith on first, Chapman muscled a bloop single to right field that landed right in front of the Cubs’ Kyle Tucker. Devers scored easily and Smith planned on stopping at third, but Tucker’s throw nailed Chapman’s helmet and launched near the Giants’ on-deck circle.
Smith took advantage of the lucky hop and sprinted home while Chapman advanced to second base. San Francisco further capitalized on the misplay when Casey Schmitt drove home Chapman with a single. By inning’s end, the Giants led 7-3.
From there, the Giants piled on with power. Devers hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth. Chapman hit a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh, the 200th home run of his career. In the bottom of the eighth, Heliot Ramos hit a solo homer off position player Reese McGuire.
