Matt Chapman hit a home run for the third game in a row, a three-run shot during an eighth-inning comeback, helping the San Francisco Giants to a 7-6 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.
Chapman hit his homer off Hunter Stratton (1-1), and Brett Wisely added a go-ahead single off Aroldis Chapman later in the inning as the Giants rallied from a big deficit for the second time in less than 24 hours.
The Giants were down by five runs early in Wednesday’s 9-5 extra-inning win.
On Thursday, they were trailing 6-2 after seven innings before Chapman and his teammates started hitting against the struggling Pirates bullpen. It was the first time since 1998 that the Giants won back-to-back games after trailing by at least four runs.
“Incredible,” San Francisco manager Bob Melvin said, later adding, “It’s a complete team win, both games.”
Paul Skenes, making his third major league start for the Pirates, allowed one run on six hits with a walk and three strikeouts in six innings. He left the game with the Pirates comfortably ahead before the bullpen faltered.
Chapman, Wisely, Lamont Wade Jr., and Heliot Ramos each had two hits for the Giants, who have won just five of their last 13 road games.
Luke Jackson (2-1) earned the win by pitching the seventh inning, while Tyler Rogers got his first save of the season by closing out the ninth.
“It’s definitely nice to get into the bullpen,” Chapman said. “We knew that their bullpen is pretty taxed after the last couple of days. So we felt like if we could get into that bullpen we’ve got a chance to come back, which is nice.”
The rally happened after Skenes had already left the game following another strong performance.
The 6-foot-6 right-hander struck out three in his third major league start but skillfully managed base traffic. The 21-year-old rookie allowed six hits (all singles) with a walk, lowering his ERA to 2.25.
