LOS ANGELES -- The Giants got some surprising thump from the bottom of the order against 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Tuesday night.
Backup catcher and No. 9 hitter Eric Haase launched his first two home runs of the season -- the second of which was a go-ahead shot off Yamamoto in the top of the fifth -- to power a 6-2 win over the rival Dodgers and extend San Francisco’s winning streak to three games.
“It was an incredible night offensively,” manager Tony Vitello said. “We needed something because we just didn’t have anything cooking. He did that for us a couple of different times.”
Haase tied the game, 1-1, with a solo blast off Yamamoto in the top of the third, though the Dodgers briefly regained the lead after Shohei Ohtani took right-hander Adrian Houser deep to collect his first homer since April 26.
Still, the Giants erased the deficit behind back-to-back homers from center fielder Harrison Bader and Haase in the top of the fifth. Bader drove a splitter from Yamamoto out to the left-field corner to tie the game, picking up his second homer of the year and his first since returning from the injured list on Monday. Haase then crushed a first-pitch fastball over the left-center-field fence to give San Francisco a 3-2 lead.
“It’s always big-time when your batterymate is picking you up with two home runs, especially to tie it up and go ahead,” said Houser, who gave up two runs over 5 2/3 innings to earn his first win for the Giants. “It was huge for him.”
It was the seventh career multihomer game for Haase and his first since July 21, 2024, against the Twins. The 33-year-old veteran became the first player to homer twice off Yamamoto in the same game in the Majors, as well as the first Giants catcher to deliver a multihomer game at Dodger Stadium.
“I didn’t have that on my bingo card, I’ll tell you that,” Haase said. “I’ve definitely had a lot worse days on the baseball field.”
What was the key to getting to Yamamoto?
“Just trying to be on time,” Haase said. “It sounds really simple, but with a guy’s heater like that, the first good-looking one I’m trying to put forward. Fortunately, I got some good ones over the plate.”
Haase came close to adding a third homer during San Francisco’s three-run rally in the seventh. After Drew Gilbert came in to pinch-hit for Bader and knocked in another run with a perfectly executed squeeze play, Haase stepped up to the plate and hammered a 399-foot drive to straightaway center field that ended up being caught at the wall by Andy Pages.
“This park, obviously as the night goes on, kind of calms down a little bit,” Haase said. “I was kind of getting into grown-man territory out there.”
The Giants subsequently expanded their lead behind a two-out, two-run double from Jung Hoo Lee, who emphatically pumped his fist and roared after pulling into second base. Lee, Gilbert and fellow outfielder Heliot Ramos had a more subdued celebration after the game, when they gathered in center field and respectfully bowed -- a stark contrast to their viral postgame revelry on Monday.
After winning three in a row for the first time since April 16-18, the Giants improved to 18-24 and 4-1 against the Dodgers this year.
“I just think the chemistry in the room now is what we were searching for a lot of the season,” Haase said. “You can argue which pieces are to blame for that, but all we know is it’s nice to finally feel that shift of momentum and energy. To do it in L.A. is obviously big for the boys. That’s obviously what we’re going to try to keep building.”
Haase’s big game couldn’t have been better timed, as the Giants have been primarily rolling with Jesus Rodriguez behind the plate since trading Patrick Bailey to the Guardians on Saturday. They also have another young catcher -- Daniel Susac -- nearing a return from a right elbow injury, which makes Haase’s future with the club a bit unclear.
The Giants had three catchers on their 26-man roster before activating Bader from the IL on Monday, so it’s possible they’ll return to that setup once Susac is ready to rejoin the fold. Haase brings nine years of catching experience and has played some corner outfield in the past, so it could make sense for the Giants to keep him around to help guide their two rookie backstops this year.
“I think you can trust him in left field,” Vitello said. “I think he’s a viable right-handed bat off the bench for us. … You instantly enjoy being around him. And then he also knows the game. A lot of catchers have gotten to see it from their position, and they’ve gotten to call pitches and things like that. But I think he really knows the game, too, so he’s a good one to be in the trenches with.”