Ramos snaps slump with 416-foot homer as Giants' bats erupt

WASHINGTON -- Heliot Ramos needed that.

With one cathartic swing, Ramos took a big step toward breaking out of his early season slump, launching a three-run home run to spark the Giants’ 10-5 series-opening win over the Nationals on Friday night at Nationals Park.

“It looked like the Ramos that the Giants fell in love with, the Ramos who’s fully capable of being the best hitter on any given day for our team,” manager Tony Vitello said. “The home run was exciting and encouraging. It’s good to kind of get the first one out of the way. That means more will follow.”

Ramos entered Friday batting only .231 with a .526 OPS and 24 strikeouts over his first 18 games of the year, which prompted the Giants to sit him in favor of the left-handed-hitting Will Brennan in the club’s final two games against the Reds this week.

“It’s something that really woke me up,” Ramos said. “I know it’s early, but I have a pretty good sense of urgency. I took it personal, just because I know I can do better than that. It did help me to work a lot. Just be aggressive in the plate. Just be intentful. It just helped me with my mindset moving forward.”

Ramos certainly looked more like himself when he got a chance to return to his starting spot in left field against Nationals right-hander Zack Littell on Friday.

In his first at-bat of the game, Ramos unloaded on a 1-2 splitter from Littell, crushing it 416 feet out to dead center to give the Giants a 3-0 lead in the top of the second. The blast snapped Ramos’ 65 at-bat homerless drought to start the season and kicked off a six-run rally that gave the Giants plenty of cushion behind right-hander Logan Webb.

“It was a release,” said Ramos, who pounded his chest as he rounded third base. “For a pitcher, it’s like getting the first strikeout of the year. It just felt really good. It’s the first one of many, and I can’t wait to keep this going.”

Ramos broke through with his first career All-Star campaign in 2024 and continued to solidify himself as a regular in the Giants’ outfield by mashing 21 homers last year. Still, he knew he had to make some adjustments after posting a 35.3% strikeout rate over his first 18 games this season, a significant spike from his 22.7% mark in 2025.

Ramos said he worked with Giants hitting coaches Hunter Mense and Oscar Bernard on “trying to be free” and “feeling like I can attack the ball out in front,” which helped him regain his swing on Friday.

“A lot of times, I was pulling off the ball,” Ramos said. “I think that slowed me down. Just like my swing, just like my movement. Just trying to start, you just slow everything down. I was just trying to feel like I can attack the ball and play with my barrel, where I can handle a pitch away or a pitch that’s in the zone and I don’t miss.”

Drew Gilbert and Casey Schmitt also went deep for San Francisco (8-12), which saw each member of its starting lineup record at least one hit en route to improving to 3-4 on its current road trip through Baltimore, Cincinnati and Washington. The 10 runs were the most the Giants have produced in a single game this season, a welcome sight considering they entered Friday averaging an MLB-low 3.05 runs per game.

Matt Chapman finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs, while rookie catcher Daniel Susac -- who got the start over incumbent Patrick Bailey on Friday -- went 2-for-5 with a double to maintain a robust .524 (11-for-21) batting average through his first nine games of the year.

Webb earned the win for the Giants, though he was far from satisfied after giving up four earned runs on seven hits over six innings. The 29-year-old right-hander caught some bad breaks, as he had to grind through a 32-pitch third after the Giants couldn’t turn a potential inning-ending double play due to a miscue from first baseman Rafael Devers, who couldn’t hang on to a high throw from shortstop Willy Adames.

The misplay brought home the Nationals’ first run of the game, and they added a pair on Daylen Lile’s two-run shot off Webb in the fourth.

“At this point, I’m just kind of hurting the team, to be honest,” said Webb, who has a 5.40 ERA over five starts this year. “I’m lucky we scored 10. I’m just trying to figure it out.”