Rookie Outfielder Grant McCray Goes Yard Twice to Make San Francisco Giants History

The San Francisco Giants cruised to a win over the San Diego Padres on Saturday thanks to two home runs from Grant McCray, who has been in the big leagues for less than four weeks.

Sep 7, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; San Francisco Giants center fielder Grant McCray (58) runs the bases after hitting a two run home run against the San Diego Padres during the ninth inning at Petco Park. / Chadd Cady-Imagn Images

Grant McCray hasn't even been in the big leagues for a month, and he has already proved himself more than capable in the clutch.

The San Francisco Giants held a 4-3 lead over the San Diego Padres with a man on second and two outs in the top of the ninth. Their rookie center fielder and No. 9 hitter stepped up to the plate against workhorse reliever Yuki Matsui, having already gone yard off ace Dylan Cease earlier in the contest.

McCray came through again, belting a 425-foot, two-run home run to right-center. That gave San Francisco all the insurance they needed, as they held on to win 6-3.

He's done it again 🤯 pic.twitter.com/MB7oc9bmEM

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) September 8, 2024

McCray, who has appeared in just 19 games since making his MLB debut on Aug. 14, finished the night 2-for-4 with two runs and five RBI.

According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, McCray became only the eighth Giants player to record a multi-home run performance before his 20th career game, since the franchise moved to San Francisco in 1958. The only other players to do so for the club over the last 49 seasons are Jarrett Parker and Trevor Brown, who accomplished the feat in 2015 and 2016, respectively.

Orlando Cepeda, Willie McCovey, Dave Kingman, Gary Matthews and Glenn Adams make up the rest of the list.

multi-HR game before 20th career game, Giants since move to SF (1958):

Today Grant McCray
4/12/16 Trevor Brown
9/26/15 Jarrett Parker
6/4/75 Glenn Adams
9/16/72 Gary Matthews
8/1/71 Dave Kingman
8/5/59 Willie McCovey
5/4/58 Orlando Cepeda https://t.co/9cfnVKGWIQ

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) September 8, 2024

McCray is batting .262 with five home runs, nine RBI, three stolen bases, an .863 OPS and 0.8 WAR since arriving in San Francisco last month. He was the No. 10 prospect in the Giants' farm system when he earned his first big league promotion.

Since the start of the 2022 season, McCray has hit 49 home runs in 344 minor league games. At his current pace, McCray would hit 91 home runs in 344 MLB games.

The 23-year-old has become an everyday player for the Giants since they fell to the fringes of the NL Wild Card race. With 19 games remaining, San Francisco is 8.5 games out of the third and final bonus berth.

The Giants could still drag the Padres down with them, though, considering San Diego is trying to fend off the Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets and Atlanta Braves at 81-63. Sunday's series finale between division rivals is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. ET.

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