Yastrzemski, Giants' bats find offensive rhythm?

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants have struggled to score early against opposing starters this season, but the offense found a way to buck that trend on Wednesday night.

Jerar Encarnacion, Mike Yastrzemski and Matt Chapman each homered to help propel the Giants to a 13-2 rout of the first-place Brewers at Oracle Park.

Encarnacion showed off his impressive pop by lofting a two-run shot into the right-field arcade to cap a four-run rally against Milwaukee right-hander Colin Rea in the first inning. Encarnacion’s fourth homer of the season was the 75th opposite-field homer by a right-handed hitter in Oracle Park history and the first by a Giant since J.D. Davis went the other way vs. the Brewers on May 5, 2023.

“He’s got some power,” manager Bob Melvin said. “It was carrying a little bit out there today, but it’s tough to go oppo here, especially at night. When he squares it up, it doesn’t matter where [he hits it]. At the time, it’s huge, the home run itself.”

San Francisco tagged Rea for four more runs in the second, with Yastrzemski providing the biggest blow, a three-run homer out to right field. It was the second homer in as many days for Yastrzemski, who also extended the Giants’ lead to 9-1 with an RBI double in the fourth.

Yastrzemski attempted to advance to third after sending a 393-foot drive over the head of center fielder Blake Perkins, but he was thrown out trying to stretch his double into a triple. Still, the Giants continued to pile on behind Chapman’s team-leading 24th homer, pushing the club into double-digits for the first time since it scored 11 runs against the Rockies on July 26.

The blowout victory was a nice change of pace for the Giants, who have played 13 one-run games since Aug. 9, including a 3-2 loss to the Brewers in Tuesday night’s series opener. San Francisco bounced back from that four-hit showing by racking up 17 knocks, allowing the club to finally cruise and rest workhorses like Ryan Walker and Tyler Rogers, both of whom rank in the top five in Major League appearances this year.

“I don’t really feel like there’s been too many blowouts one way or the other,” Yastrzemski said. “It’s been a lot of really close games. We haven’t really clobbered anybody, and we haven’t really been clobbered. It’s nice to get those and to not necessarily get a mental break, but to at least have a different perspective during the game where you can really hone in on a few things that you may not be able to if it’s a super tight game.”

The offensive eruption provided ample support for left-hander Blake Snell, who allowed only one run on four hits while walking two and striking out eight over five innings. Snell didn’t have his best fastball command, but the results were still an improvement from his last start against the D-backs when he was pulled after throwing 42 pitches in the first inning.

“I want to be in the zone,” Snell said. “I want to attack the zone. The lack of doing it has been pretty frustrating. But to go five today with what I had to battle, it’s good. The offense carried us and helped me a lot to where I could make more mistakes, knowing that we’ve got a big lead. The offense definitely made it easier for me to pitch, but it was still a tough day for me.”

It was a more productive day for Yastrzemski, who finished 2-for-4 with four RBIs to raise his slash line to .240/.313/.445 with 15 homers over 125 games. The 34-year-old veteran will be entering his final year of arbitration in 2025, so he said he’s motivated to finish strong and show that he still deserves a spot in the Giants’ outfield mix, which has been skewing younger following the arrivals of Heliot Ramos, Jung Hoo Lee, Luis Matos and Grant McCray this year.

“After April, I was pretty frustrated," he said. “I really wanted to battle back and prove my value because I love this place. I don’t want to go anywhere for as long as I play. I love the group here, the staff. The front office has treated me like family. They’re amazing. The fans are incredible. They’ve made it feel like home. The goal is to stay here as long as I can. I understand that that’s usually based on performance, so I’m just trying to continue to bring value every day.”