Jorge Soler and LaMonte Wade Jr. hit back-to-back home runs on Tuesday night to help the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves 5-3.
Heliot Ramos also went deep as San Francisco won for the sixth time in eight games. Mike Yastrzemski went 2-for-2 in his return from a strained left oblique.
Hayden Birdsong (1-0) threw five innings of two-run ball in his first major league win. The right-handed pitcher struck out five and walked two in his second major league start.
“It’s very special. Now I’m in the books,” Birdsong said. “I can’t thank this team enough for having my back and playing as hard as they can.”
Birdsong, a native of Illinois and a native of Illinois, played at Eastern Illinois University and drew large audiences to his performances.
“I can’t describe it,” he said. “It’s amazing. I had more people here than I had last week in San Francisco. A lot more of my friends, buddies, other family members. I can’t really describe it.”
Camilo Doval earned his 15th save with a perfect ninth inning.
Austin Riley and Sean Murphy hit back-to-back homers off Birdsong in the second. Ozzie Albies added an RBI single for the Braves in the eighth.
San Francisco trailed 2-0 before Soler and Wade scored in the fifth inning against Reynaldo López. It was Soler’s 10th home run of the season and Wade’s third.
“(Soler) likes to lead off. He’s done a good job,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s had pretty good matchup numbers against (López). You see a little less chasing and a guy who’s taking some pitches and walks and hitting some home runs in the process.”
The Braves put runners on second and third with one out in the fifth inning, but Birdsong retired Jarred Kelenic and Albies retired the batter on a flyball to left.
“You have to find another gear to get out of such a dire situation,” Melvin said.
The Giants added another run in the sixth. Michael Conforto hit a leadoff double against Dylan Lee (2-2) and came on Brett Wisely’s sacrifice. Riley then lost Luis Matos’ pinch-hit grounder to third for an error, allowing Conforto to score.
Nick Ahmed drove in Wisely with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, but Albies responded with an RBI single.
Ramos gave the Giants an insurance run when he hit a drive to right field off Jesse Chavez in the ninth inning for his 11th home run.
López, who leads the majors with a 1.83 ERA, allowed four hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out six and walked four.
Riley and Murphy went deep with one out in the second. Adam Duvall nearly hit a third consecutive home run, but he had to settle for a double when his drive hit high off the wall in center.
Birdsong managed to end the inning with a pair of flyouts.
Kelenic saved two runs in the third inning with a great running grab of a deep line drive by Matt Chapman with two outs.
NEXT ONE
Braves LHP Chris Sale (10-3, 2.79 ERA) starts Game 2 of Wednesday’s three-game series against Giants RHP Jordan Hicks (4-4, 3.36 ERA).
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