San Francisco Giants’ Luis Matos, right, celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Colorado Rockies during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 18, 2024, in San Francisco. SAN FRANCISCO — When Luis Matos debuted as the second-youngest player in the majors last June, “Matos Mania” was born. The Venezuelan outfield phenom collected hits and scored runs at a rate that put him in the same conversation as Willie McCovey in franchise lore.
The offensive infusion provided by Matos, who was only called up Sunday, powered the Giants to their third consecutive win, something they hadn’t done in their first 46 games of the season. They were the last of the league’s 30 teams still seeking a three-game win streak after Colorado ripped off seven in a row entering this series.
The home run gave Kyle Harrison a 3-0 lead with which to work, and Matos drove in another run — Chapman again — with a double in his next trip to the plate that made it 6-3 after the Rockies cut into the advantage in the top half of the third. Led by Matos, the Giants’ dormant offense has awoken the past two games against a Rockies pitching staff that had limited opponents to a 13 earned runs in 63 innings, a 1.86 ERA, over the seven-game win streak Colorado took into the series.
Soler’s RBI double in the second inning was rocketed off the bat at 114 mph, the hardest-hit ball by a Giants batter this season.