The San Francisco Giants triumphed over the Kansas City Royals with a commanding 9-0 victory, fueled by strong performances from LaMonte Wade Jr. and Matt Chapman, who both hit two home runs each. Landen Roupp earned his first major league win by pitching five scoreless innings.
Despite the loss, the Royals are holding onto the AL’s second wild-card spot, with their lead over the Minnesota Twins shrinking to just a half game. Following closely behind are the Tigers, trailing the Twins by the same margin.
Wade initiated the Giants’ scoring with a solo home run in the first inning and continued his momentum with another home run in the fourth. Chapman then followed suit with a homer of his own, marking the seventh instance of back-to-back home runs for the Giants this season and also securing the first multi-homer game of Wade’s career.
In the sixth inning, the Giants exploded for six runs, with Chapman hitting his 26th home run of the season and Curt Casali adding a two-run single. Mike Yastrzemski capped off the scoring frenzy with a three-run homer. Yastrzemski has now hit five home runs in his last ten games and a total of 18 for the season.
Roupp, in his third career start, shut out the Royals over five innings, allowing only three hits while striking out three batters. On the other side, Brady Singer struggled for the Royals, giving up six runs on seven hits, including four home runs, over 5 1/3 innings.
The Giants have been in good form recently, winning four of their last five games, during which they have hit nine home runs and outscored their opponents 29-9. The Royals, in contrast, have suffered six consecutive losses, hitting just 8 for 52 with runners in scoring position during this stretch.
In team transactions, the Giants reinstated IF Matt Chapman from the paternity list and optioned IF Marco Luciano to Triple-A Sacramento.
The Giants’ next game will feature LHP Blake Snell on the mound, with the Royals countering with RHP Seth Lugo in their final regular-season home game on Sunday.