Matt Chapman hit a home run for the third game in a row, Logan Webb pitched into the sixth inning, and the San Francisco Giants defeated the Washington Nationals 4-1 on Monday night.
The Giants have won nine of their last 12 games and are now at .500 with a 57-57 record, marking their first time at .500 since June 1, when they were 29-29 before losing to the Yankees.
Tyler Fitzgerald, who was named the NL Rookie of the month for July, had two hits and homered for the second straight game. He has hit home runs in 10 of his last 17 games, totaling 11 homers.
“I’ve had power in the minors,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s just one of those weird things where it’s all happening real close together. Baseball’s weird and it can be good like this sometimes, and sometimes you can get in little slumps and I’m just trying to ride this out.”
Webb (9-8), who had a five-hit shutout against the A’s in his previous game, gave up a run on four hits over 5 2/3 innings. He struck out four and walked three while throwing 95 pitches after throwing 106 against Oakland.
“Ninety-five was perfect for him,” manager Bob Melvin said about Webb’s performance on a hot night. “Unfortunately he gave up the one run but he pitched really well again.”
Camilo Doval closed the game with three strikeouts in the ninth inning to earn his 21st save.
Washington starter Patrick Corbin (2-12), who was aiming for his 100th career win, allowed four runs on seven hits over six innings.
Travis Blankenhorn had two hits for the Nationals. Fitzgerald hit a home run to start the game.
“It’s pretty impressive what he’s doing,” Corbin said. “But you’ve still got to attack these guys. First batter of the game. Go from there.”
In the third inning, Corbin walked Michael Conforto with two outs and a runner on second base, and Chapman hit the first pitch he saw for his 18th homer, giving the Giants a 4-0 lead.
Chapman is batting .378 (17-for-45) with four doubles, five homers, 11 RBIs, and eight runs scored over his last 12 games.
