Tyler Fitzgerald becomes first Giants rookie to homer in 5 consecutive games
AP Sports Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — San Francisco infielder Tyler Fitzgerald became the first Giants rookie to homer in five consecutive games Tuesday night.
Fitzgerald, though, did not want to celebrate, not with his team mired in a slump coming out of the All-Star break.
“It’s cool and all, but it would have been definitely cooler if we would have won,” Fitzgerald said after the Giants 5-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. “At the end of the year I’ll look back on this and smile about it, but we lost the game. Really, not a whole lot good came from it.”
Fitzgerald accomplished the milestone in the second inning, when he drove a slider from Los Angeles starter Landon Knack into the Dodgers’ left-field bullpen.
His streak hasn’t translated into wins for the Giants, who have dropped the first two in a four-game series against the Dodgers and are 1-4 since the All-Star break.
The longest homer streak by a Giants’ rookie prior to Fitzgerald’s was four games by Jack Clark in 1977.
Fitzgerald is first San Francisco player to homer in at least five straight since Barry Bonds had a seven-game streak in 2004.
“Just to get at five is pretty cool. I’ve had some stretches in the minors, but to finally just do it here, it’s kind of a sigh of relief and it feels pretty good,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald had just three homers in 44 career games prior to this recent stretch. Manager Bob Melvin said there are many people in the Giants’ organization who think Fitzgerald’s recent power surge isn’t an anomaly.
“The guy’s got incredible talent. He’s got power, speed, everything you want,” Melvin said. “It’s cutting down on the strikeouts and getting good pitches to hit, which he’s doing right now. There are a lot of people in the organization that felt it was a matter of time, getting some experience and consistent at-bats that this could happen here.”
Bonds, Clark, Robby Thompson and Willie Mays are the only Giants to go deep in five straight games since the team moved to San Francisco in 1958.
According to Sportradar, there have been 86 single-season streaks since 2000 of players homering in at least five straight games.
Boston’s Rafael Devers homered in six straight games earlier this season.
“I’m swinging at good pitches and doing damage when I get the pitch I want,” Fitzgerald said. “I’m trying not to think about the streak. I’ve got a lot of people texting and stuff like that. It can kind of get to your head a little bit. I’m going to go home and try to shut my mind off.”
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