On bobblehead day, Bailey hits Splash Hit -- that didn't splash?

April 21st, 2024

SAN FRANCISCO -- One day after recording their first home run at Oracle Park this season, the Giants added their first Splash Hit.

launched a go-ahead, two-run shot into McCovey Cove as part of a four-hit performance that propelled the Giants to a 7-3 win over the D-backs on Saturday afternoon.

Bailey staked San Francisco a 3-1 lead with an RBI double off right-hander Zac Gallen in the third, but Arizona tied the game by scoring two runs off rookie Kyle Harrison the following inning.

Still, Bailey put the Giants back in front in the fifth, crushing a 3-1 fastball from Gallen over the right-field arcade for his first career Splash Hit -- on his bobblehead day, no less.

“He’s a good player, and he’s playing good right now,” manager Bob Melvin said. “The baseball gods probably shone down on him a little bit today. But it was pretty cool that he gets a four-hit game, he hits a ball in the Bay, he gets to sign a lot of bobbleheads before the game. It ended up being probably a day he’ll never forget.”

Bailey’s second homer of the year traveled an estimated 407 feet, though it technically didn’t splash at all, as the ball ended up landing directly in a kayak.

“Does that still count, I guess?” Bailey asked.

Officially, yes -- while the ball didn’t touch the water, Bailey was still credited with the Giants’ 103rd splash hit in Oracle Park history and the first since Mike Yastrzemski put one in the Cove on June 19, 2023.

Bailey also singled in the first inning and added another double in the seventh, though he missed a chance at hitting for the cycle after his drive into the left-center-field gap bounced over the wall, preventing him from trying to stretch the extra-base hit into a triple.

“I was probably going to push the limits a little bit there,” Bailey said. “But we’ll take it, for sure. Disappointed might be a stretch, but it would have been cool to have the opportunity for it.”

Bailey almost got one more plate appearance in the eighth, but he was left on deck when Wilmer Flores flied out to leave runners on second and third.

“It was almost like you just expect Flo to get a hit to get him up one more time for the potential 5-for-5,” Melvin said. “But I think he’ll take the way it ended up.”

Bailey, 24, wore down physically after appearing in a career-high 125 games between the Majors and the Minors in 2023, so he focused on building his strength back over the offseason to ensure that he can do a better job of withstanding the workload in his second year in the big leagues. That work already seems to be paying dividends, as the 4-for-4 showing pushed Bailey’s batting average to .340 with a .957 OPS through his first 16 games of the year.

“That dude is unbelievable,” Harrison said. “There’s nothing else to say. The guy is the truth.”

Jung Hoo Lee also went deep for the Giants, mashing a leadoff homer, the first leadoff shot of his career, off Gallen that erased a one-run deficit and kickstarted a two-run first inning for San Francisco, which was coming off a 17-1 blowout loss on Friday night. Lee’s homer was the first of 16 hits for the Giants, their most in a game this season.

“Last night was a tough night for us,” Melvin said. “They’ve got Gallen on the mound. This is a big win, and it started with Jung Hoo’s home run. That really kind of ignited us.”

The long balls helped the Giants overcome an uneven start from Harrison, who gave up three runs on six hits over four innings in his shortest start of the year. San Francisco’s bullpen stepped in to provide shutdown relief after Harrison’s departure, with Ryan Walker, Erik Miller, Taylor Rogers, Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval combining to throw five scoreless innings.

“That’s what you dream for as a starting pitcher,” Harrison said. “Those guys had my back today.”