Fitzgerald’s 1st multihomer game leads to another Bondsian feat
SAN FRANCISCO — For the second time this week, Tyler Fitzgerald’s homer binge has put him in the same conversation as Giants legend Barry Bonds.
Fitzgerald crushed two more home runs in an 11-4 rout of the last-place Rockies at Oracle Park on Friday night, making him the first Giant to collect seven blasts in an eight-game span since Bonds in 2004.
The 26-year-old infielder also entered into Bondsian territory when he homered in five consecutive games earlier this week, though his impressive streak came to an end when the Dodgers managed to keep him in the yard on Wednesday and Thursday in Los Angeles.
Still, Fitzgerald got back to his slugging ways on Friday night, hammering a towering two-run shot off Colorado left-hander Kyle Freeland in the fourth before adding another two-run blast off right-hander Tyler Kinley in the sixth. It was the first career multihomer game for Fitzgerald, who is now batting .330 with a 1.060 OPS and eight homers over 42 games this year.
The hot-hitting Fitzgerald has now collected an extra-base hit in eight straight games, the second-longest streak by a Giants rookie since at least 1900, trailing only Hack Wilson’s nine-game stretch in 1924.
Fitzgerald and leadoff man Jorge Soler combined to go 6-for-8 with three home runs, seven RBIs and seven runs scored to back another stellar start from rookie Kyle Harrison, who struck out 11 over 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball. Harrison allowed only one hit — a leadoff single to Michael Toglia in the third — while lowering his ERA to 1.52 (four earned runs over 23 2/3 innings) over four starts against the Rockies this year.
The Giants outhit the Rockies by a 14-5 margin, with Heliot Ramos capping the club’s offensive outburst with a three-run shot off left-hander Ty Blach in the eighth.