SAN FRANCISCO — The bat didn’t go soaring, but the ball sure did.
So did the Giants’ spirits, which were lifted in a memorable way Wednesday as third baseman Jae-gyun Hwang launched his first career home run in his Major League debut in San Francisco’s 5-3 victory.
Hwang’s homer powered the Giants past the Colorado Rockies for the third straight day, as Bruce Bochy’s ballclub earned its first series sweep of the season thanks to the immediate impact of the South Korean sensation.
The home run helped Hwang become the first Giants’ player since Adam Duvall (June 26, 2014) to go yard in his first career game, and the victory gave San Francisco its first three-game win streak since May 14-16.
“The only thing I’ve imagined is just to set my feet on the field and the grass at AT&T Park and I never even dreamed of hitting a home run here,” Hwang said.
After knocking in a run with an RBI groundout in the fourth inning, Hwang broke a 3-3 tie with a monstrous shot that landed halfway up the left field bleachers in the bottom of the sixth to give San Francisco a lead it would never relinquish.
Though the 29-year-old infielder carried a reputation of being a ferocious bat-flipper with him when he arrived in the United States this spring, Hwang celebrated his first big fly by admiring the shot and gently dropping his lumber to the infield soil.
Hwang’s solo shot allowed Giants’ starter Ty Blach to leave the game in line for a victory, after Blach battled through a challenging first inning in which the Rockies plated a pair of runs before Blach recorded an out.
“Really, a gutty effort he (Blach) gave us,” Bochy said. “He wasn’t quite as sharp with his command but he hurt himself more than anything, his command was worse throwing to first base more than anywhere, but we’re trying to squeeze every out of him because of our bullpen situation and boy, he gave us just a great effort out there.
Starting against Colorado for the second time in two weeks, Blach allowed the first three Colorado hitters he faced to reach base, but didn’t allow three consecutive base runners for the remainder of his start.
The Denver native lasted 6 and 1/3 innings, surrendered seven hits, three runs, one earned run and committed two throwing errors against a Rockies team that’s now lost eight straight games.
A pair of errors on Rockies’ bunt attempts in the first and sixth innings allowed Colorado to plate two unearned runs against Blach, as the Giants’ pitcher had a difficult time fielding his position on Wednesday afternoon.
After a Nolan Arenado RBI single in the first inning put Colorado ahead 2-0 though, Blach did battle back and did yeoman’s work to keep the Giants in the game.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Blach was rewarded for his efforts by his battery-mate, catcher Nick Hundley, who turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 Giants lead with a towering home run to straightaway left field.
Following Hwang’s RBI groundout, Hundley stepped in for what became one of the most engaging at-bats of the contest.
After getting ahead in the count 3-0, Hundley took what he thought was ball four on a high fastball from Rockies’ starter Kyle Freeland. Hundley took off for first base, but was forced to return to the batter’s box after a late strike call from home plate umpire Jeff Nelson. Hundley then whiffed at a 3-1 offering, before clobbering a 3-2 fastball well beyond the left field fence.
Hundley stood like a golfer admiring a perfect tee shot, and after circling the base paths, bashed forearms with right fielder Austin Slater so forcefully that Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire might have blushed.
The Giants held a 3-2 edge until the sixth, when Blach threw Pat Valaika’s bunt attempt way up the first base line. Valaika advanced to third on the two-base error, and came home on an RBI single from right fielder Mike Tauchman, who logged his first Major League hit against Blach to tie the game.
But in the bottom half of the inning, Hwang stepped to the plate prepared to create a memory, and did he ever. With thousands of televisions in South Korea tuned in to watch one of their local stars on the big stage, the charismatic power hitter had the chance to act out a scene he grew up dreaming about.
“It wouldn’t be true if I had said that I wasn’t nervous at all,” Hwang said. “I was nervous since last night but as the game went on every inning passed by and I felt like I was zoned into the game more and more.”
Hwang’s blast sent the Giants off to a six-game road streak riding high, and sent many South Koreans who woke up at 4:45 a.m. local time Thursday morning to watch the game off to work with a reason to smile.
“They were so excited for him, happy for him,” Bochy said. “They all know what he’s been through, he’s given up baseball in Korea to come here and try to make it to the Major Leagues here and he reaches his dream, that’s playing here and hits a home run. A huge home run to go with that and so he got a nice beer showed in there, that’s why I’m a little late here and it’s a special moment.”