SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants have a traditional postgame reception for anyone who hits his first Major League home run. They shove the guy into a laundry cart and douse him with anything that can be poured, squeezed or otherwise ejected from a bottle, can or tube: toothpaste, shampoo, beer, mustard, catsup, mayonnaise, baby powder and … use your imagination.
“I think there was some barbecue sauce in there as well,” hero and victim Christian Koss said with a wide grin. “I’m still going to be smelling it tomorrow.”
Koss performed a relatively rare feat Tuesday night, hitting a grand slam for his first Major League homer, whose importance went far beyond that morsel of trivia. With the Giants starved for a big hit, the 27-year-old rookie provided the biggest hit possible with his second-inning slam against Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt.
Koss’ swing more than erased the three-run Arizona first against Robbie Ray and propelled the Giants to a 10-6 victory that broke their four-game losing streak.
Willy Adames hit a two-run homer and Jung Hoo Lee hit one with two aboard in the eighth. Each was significant in its own way.
Adames was rewarded for much behind-the-scenes hitting work hoping to reverse his slow start to his first season in San Francisco.
Lee went deep on in front of thousands of his countrymen on Korean Heritage Night, including a diehard group of fans who call themselves the “Hoo Lee Gans.”
Even Lee knew his fifth homer of the season took second billing to Koss’, especially in light of how badly the Giants needed a big hit and were already down 3-0 in the game.
“That home run brought a different vibe, a different energy into the dugout,” Lee said through translator Justin Han. “I’m happy for him.”
Wilmer Flores’ single and walks to Adames and Patrick Bailey teed up Koss’ big moment. Koss reached for a down-and-in sinker and hit it over the left-field wall, where a kid with a glove caught it on the fly. When Koss saw the ball disappear he raised his right hand and pointed to the sky.
“I kind of blacked out a little bit,” Koss said. “I messed up the handshake [at the plate]. The moment got too big. I panicked a little bit. Too bad. I’ll get the next one.”
His high-10 with Flores was textbook, but when Adames offered his hands Koss missed completely. What resulted looked like a four-handed slap fight.
Koss was one of six Giants with multiple hits, led by Mike Yastrzemski’s single and two doubles. A 13-hit night seems par for the course with Ray on the mound.
Ray improved to 6-0, and the Giants to 9-0, in his starts.
Manager Bob Melvin, asked if Koss’ grand slam allowed the dugout to exhale, said yes and no.
“I think it’s more of an exhale after the game when you’ve lost four games in a row,” Melvin said. “We weren’t used to that.”
Melvin saw a lot he liked from his hitters. Adames complemented his homer with a walk and a double that nearly cleared the right-field wall. LaMonte Wade Jr., who entered with a .145 batting average and was benched against a right-handed starter for the first time this season Monday night, singled twice and hit a 368-foot out to right-center.
Lee had cooled, too, with two hits in 20 at-bats over his five previous games. He singled in the third inning and hit his homer in the eighth after the Diamondbacks had Heliot Ramos walked intentionally ahead of him.
Lost amid the hitting were two important pitching feats.
Ray lasted into the sixth inning and put up five zeros after Arizona’s three-run first. And with the Giants leading 7-4 in the eighth, Camilo Doval extricated himself from his own bases-loaded jam by getting Ketel Marte to end the inning on a comebacker that became a home-to-first double play.