SAN FRANCISCO – LaMonte Wade Jr. said he didn’t set out to hit for more power this season.
No, Wade said the power display he’s put on lately is simply the product of the work he put in during the offseason and the help he’s received from the Giants’ coaching staff to have a better eye at the plate.
“Just trying to run off a good approach and swing at good pitches to hit,” Wade said, “and luckily, some of them are going out of the park.”
Wade had his first career multi-home run game and starting pitcher Alex Wood earned his third win in his last four starts as the Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 on Sunday to avoid a rare three-game sweep this year at Oracle Park.
Wade homered in the first and third innings to give him three in two games and 12 this season. Wilmer Flores and Thairo Estrada also went deep for San Francisco, which now has a Major League-best 151 home runs this season.
The win kept the Giants (62-37) two games ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the National League West. The two teams meet in San Francisco for a three-game series that starts Tuesday.
“I feel like anytime that we take a little step back that guys are eager to get back to the park and right the ship,” Wade said.
Wade in the first inning led off by hammering a sinker from Pirates right-hander JT Brubaker sinker an estimated 429 feet over the center-field fence to tie the game 1-1. In the third inning, Wade drove a Brubaker changeup 400 feet into the right-field arcade.
Wade’s career-high for home runs in a season as a professional was 11 in 2018. That year he hit seven in 46 games for Double-A Chattanooga and four in 74 games for Triple-A Rochester in the Twins organization.
Before he was acquired by the Giants from Minnesota in February, Wade had hit two homers with a .684 OPS in 113 big league plate appearances. Now his OPS for this year is up to .930 in 148 plate appearances.
“Thinking back to spring training, I think we saw the on-base coming, we saw the selectiveness, some of the aggressiveness in the zone,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said of Wade. “I just don’t know that we saw as consistent of an ‘A’ swing as we’re seeing now.”
Wade on Sunday also doubled with one out in the fifth inning, giving him his second three-hit game this season.
“I feel good when I’m swinging at the pitches I should be swinging at,” Wade said. “I feel like I’ve been chasing a lot. It just goes to show that the coaching staff has been putting together great hitting plans for us.”
Wood lasted 5 1/3 innings before he gave way to Jay Jackson with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth. Jackson then provided the game’s most critical moment, getting Kevin Newman to ground into a 4-6-3 double play.
Wood allowed one earned run and five hits, but also matched a season-high with eight strikeouts.
In his last four outings before Sunday, Wood had a 2-0 record with a 2.82 ERA with 29 strikeouts and seven walks. His last win came on July 7 when he allowed one earned run over seven innings.
The Giants are now 8-0 this season when Wood is starting the day after a loss.
“To a certain degree, I feel a responsibility,” Wood said. “I’m someone who’s been around a while. I know what it means to stop that skid and start a new winning streak.”
The Giants and Dodgers played an emotionally charged four-game series earlier this week at Chavez Ravine, with San Francisco winning three times to stay in first place. Los Angeles is the only team to sweep a three-game series from the Giants this season at China Basin.
Tuesday’s game is the first of six the Giants have left against the Dodgers in San Francisco. The Giants are 6-3 in Los Angeles this year.
“We definitely have some work to do to prepare for the Dodgers series,” Kapler said. “I think we would work and prepare the same way, whether we were playing in Los Angeles or we were playing here.”
INJURY UPDATES: First baseman Brandon Belt (right knee inflammation) ran again Sunday and is nearing a rehab assignment. Shortstop Brandon Crawford continues to progress from a left oblique strain and as of now, is on track to return when he is eligible to come off the 10-day injured list next week.
NEXT WEEK: Kapler said the Giants will stay on their regular pitching rotation for their three-game series with the Dodgers. Logan Webb is slated to face Julio Urías on Tuesday, Anthony DeSclafani will pitch Wednesday vs. Walker Buehler and Johnny Cueto will pitch in the Thursday finale vs. David Price.
