NEW YORK -- Who will be there when the rain starts to pour?
Flores stayed true to his famous walk-up music -- the ¡°Friends¡± theme song, ¡°I¡¯ll Be There For You¡± by The Rembrandts -- by crushing his sixth home run of the season on a cold, drizzly Saturday afternoon, but it wasn¡¯t enough as the Giants fell to the Yankees, 8-4, to even this three-game Interleague series in the Bronx.
Flores knocked in all four runs for the Giants and accounted for two of their six hits. But they couldn¡¯t overcome a rough start from right-hander Jordan Hicks, who was charged with a career-high seven runs over four-plus innings.
The Yankees took a 2-0 lead after scoring a pair of runs off Hicks in the bottom of the first, but Flores erased the deficit with a game-tying two-run shot off right-hander Will Warren in the top of the second. After Heliot Ramos reached on a leadoff double, Flores drove a low sinker out to right-center field for a Statcast-projected 394-foot blast that tied him with Aaron Judge, Tommy Edman, Kyle Schwarber, Tyler Soderstrom and Mike Trout for the MLB lead in homers.
¡°Hitting a ball the other way in the cold today for a home run, you¡¯ve got to square it up pretty good,¡± manager Bob Melvin said. ¡°He¡¯s been really consistent, especially with runners in scoring position. Probably as good as anybody in the league.¡±
The 33-year-old veteran added a two-run bases-loaded single off Fernando Cruz in the sixth to bring his RBI total to 19 through his first 14 games of the year, which ranks second in the Majors behind Judge (20).
¡°It just feels good helping the team,¡± Flores said. ¡°Just like any other season, you always try to start on the right foot. It doesn¡¯t always happen, but I¡¯m glad we¡¯re doing it.¡±
¡°It¡¯s pretty insane,¡± Hicks said. ¡°I only got to see spurts of it last year. To see Flo in his element, it¡¯s been really fun to watch and a good surprise.¡±
Flores never found his groove while battling a nagging right knee injury that eventually required season-ending surgery last August. But he has been a huge difference-maker for the Giants now that he¡¯s back to full strength this year.
A little over two weeks into the regular season, Flores has already eclipsed his entire home run tally from last year (four), helping to fill the void left by the injury to Jerar Encarnacion, who is expected to miss eight weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a fracture in his left hand. With Encarnacion sidelined, Flores has taken over as the Giants¡¯ everyday designated hitter and enjoyed an impressive power surge to start the year, with six of his first 14 hits going out for homers.
¡°He¡¯s just into his legs,¡± Melvin said. ¡°Last year, with the knee issue he had, he really couldn¡¯t drive the ball. Early in the season, we saw a little bit of it. As it went along, it was just getting worse and worse. He was getting treatment every day, and then he ended up having to have the surgery. It¡¯s just a different guy right now. He¡¯s always been a guy that¡¯s gotten big hits.¡±
The frigid New York weather hasn¡¯t been quite as tough for Flores, who stayed warm by taking swings in the batting cage in between his at-bats, but the misty conditions continued to pose challenges for those playing the field. Ramos, for example, couldn¡¯t track down Cody Bellinger¡¯s deep drive to left field in the bottom of the first, allowing it to fall for an RBI triple that kicked off a two-run rally against Hicks.
The Yankees threatened to snap the 2-2 tie after they loaded the bases with two outs for Judge in the bottom of the second, but Hicks managed to avoid damage by getting the reigning American League MVP to ground into an inning-ending forceout on his 30th pitch of the inning.
Hicks retired six of the next seven batters he faced, but he couldn¡¯t record an out in the fifth after allowing the Yankees to load the bases with no outs on three consecutive singles. That brought up Hicks¡¯ former Cardinals teammate, Paul Goldschmidt, who lined a first-pitch sinker to right field for a two-run double that put the Yankees ahead, 4-2.
Hicks departed after issuing a walk to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and left the bases loaded for Randy Rodr¨ªguez, who allowed all three inherited runners to score on a sacrifice fly by Anthony Volpe and a two-out, two-run single by Jasson Dom¨ªnguez.
¡°I feel like I had some good stuff today, I just probably threw a few too many fastballs,¡± Hicks said. ¡°I had the offspeed working, so I should have just thrown more of that, to be honest, and mixed it better. You live and learn and move on to the next one.¡±