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Luis Matos' first-career home run lifts SF Giants to 7-6 win over Dbacks

The SF Giants scored seven runs against Merrill Kelly, capped off by Luis Matos' first-career MLB home run, which proved to be a game-winning blast.

Marc Delucchi

Luis Matos' first-career home run lifts SF Giants to 7-6 win over Dbacks
Luis Matos' first-career home run lifts SF Giants to 7-6 win over Dbacks /
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The SF Giants defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday afternoon, pulling out a 7-6 win at Oracle Park to improve to 44-33 on the season. Despite facing Dbacks righty Merrill Kelly, who has had plenty of success against the Giants over his career, the Giants tagged him for seven runs. San Francisco has now won three consecutive series against division rivals and are now just 1.5 games back of the Dbacks for the top spot in the National League West.

SF Giants pitcher Keaton Winn throws a pitch against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the fourth inning at Oracle Park on June 24, 2023.
SF Giants pitcher Keaton Winn throws a pitch against the Dbacks on June 24, 2023 / Robert Edwards-USA TODAY Sports

Rookie Ryan Walker continued serving as an opener while John Brebbia and Scott Alexander remain on the injured list. Walker struck out a pair of Diamondbacks hitters in his lone inning of work but for the second time in his three starts, surrendered a solo home run. Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte was responsible for the damage, sending a slider into Levi's Landing for his 13th home run of the season.

The Giants did not let Walker leave the game on the hook for the loss, though. In the bottom half of the first, LaMonte Wade Jr. led off the inning with a double. Then, Diamondbacks star rookie Corbin Carroll dropped a routine fly ball from Thairo Estrada in center field, putting runners on the corners with nobody out for the middle of San Francisco's lineup.

Joc Pederson tied the game with an RBI ground out that pushed Estrada into scoring position. While J.D. Davis softly lined out to Marte, Michael Conforto delivered a two-out RBI double. It was Conforto's third extra-base hit of the series.

Keaton Winn (Giants preseason #18 prospect) replaced Walker in the top of the second inning and excelled the first time through the Dbacks lineup. In his third career big-league appearance, Winn pounded the strike zone and continued flashing shades of Kevin Gausman (or Jason Schmidt, as Grant Brisbee opined) with his fastball/splitter combo.

The Giants added another run in the third inning on an RBI single by Blake Sabol (Giants preseason #33 prospect), which brought Joc Pederson in to score, giving San Francisco a 3-1 lead.

Winn hit a speed bump in the top of the fifth inning, allowing three straight singles, two of which did not leave the infield, to start the frame. With one run in and two runners on base, Giants manager Gabe Kapler brought in veteran lefty Sean Manaea to try and escape the jam. Manaea surrendered another infield single, although a force call was very close at second base, to load the bases for Christian Walker.

Manaea fell behind the Dbacks' cleanup hitter with a pair of balls but evened the count at 2-2 with a pair of fastballs up in the zone. Then, Manaea seemed to freeze Manaea with a fastball on the low-and-inside corner. However, it was called a ball. With the count full, Manaea left a fastball down the middle, and Walker lined a bases-clearing double to left-center field to give Arizona a 5-3 lead.

The Giants immediately cut into the Dbacks' lead with a lead-off single by Estrada followed by an RBI triple from Pederson, his second triple of the season. While the Giants did not record another hit in the inning, a sacrifice fly from Sabol evened the score at five.

The Giants' plan in the sixth inning took a hit when Luke Jackson left the game with back tightness after issuing a walk, but lefty Taylor Rogers picked up the slack and kept the game tied.

Brandon Crawford singled against Kelly to lead off the bottom of the sixth inning, which brought Luis Matos (SF Giants preseason #4 prospect) to the plate.

The downsides of youth had been on display earlier in the game from the 21-year-old Matos. He was picked off first base and allowed a runner to advance into scoring position making an ill-advised throw to third after catching a deep fly ball. However, there's a reason Matos forced his way to the majors this season.

Matos made up for those mistakes, and more, with one swing of the bat on Kelly's final pitch of the day. Matos lined a fastball down the left-field line for his first-career MLB home run.

With a late-game lead, Giants' top setup arm Tyler Rogers entered in the seventh inning and struck out three hitters across two perfect innings of work. Then, for the second consecutive day, Camilo Doval entered in the top of the ninth in a save situation. Doval allowed one run on a walk and two singles but held onto the lead and recorded his 22nd save of the season.

The SF Giants will go for the sweep against the Diamondbacks on Sunday, looking to pull within half a game of the division lead with a victory. Anthony DeSclafani will make the start for the Giants against Ryne Nelson. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 PM Pacific.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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