SAN FRANCISCO -- Rafael Devers has the same mindset every day.
“You always go into the game wanting to go 5-for-5, but you know that’s not going to happen,” Devers said in Spanish. “You just have to take advantage, and the important thing is to win the game.”
Both of those boxes were checked off on Wednesday as Devers went 4-for-4 with two home runs, a double, a walk and five RBIs in the Giants’ 12-3 walloping of the Cubs at Oracle Park. Devers tied his career-high with 11 total bases while finishing a triple shy of a cycle.
Devers got things started in the bottom of the first inning when he demolished a splitter right down the middle from Cubs starter Colin Rea 410 feet to straightaway center for a solo home run.
He poured it on later in the sixth inning on a sinker in the same location from Cubs reliever Taylor Rogers, pulling it over the left-field fence for a three-run blast to get his team into double digits in the run column, putting the cap on arguably his best performance as a Giant.
“Well, he hit it everywhere today,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Nice, warm night carries a little bit. The first one’s going out anywhere, and then go to left field, just kind of shows off what he can do in any ballpark. … Games like this go a long way. Big night for him, certainly -- for us too -- he’s pretty embraced here, and we know that he’s capable of having games like that.”
It was Devers’ 21st career multi-HR game, his third of 2025 and his second in a Giants uniform. It was, however, his first at Oracle Park as his previous two-homer game happened on the road in Atlanta on July 23.
The exit velocities on Devers’ three extra-base hits on Wednesday: a 106.1 mph home run, a 107.3 mph double, followed by a 105.7 mph homer.
“I felt good,” Devers said. “It was a good swing, I was looking for my pitch. And like every day, I’m always trying to make my adjustments. He threw me that first fastball, and I made my adjustment on the second pitch.”
Devers also scored twice from third base, on a sacrifice fly from Dominic Smith in the third and in the fifth on a bloop single from Matt Chapman, which would turn into a bizarre sequence after Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker’s attempt to throw home bounced off the helmet of Chapman, allowing Smith to score as the Giants’ lead grew to three runs.
Chapman and Ramos both added home runs of their own, with Chapman hitting the 200th of his career.
“This is the guy that everybody’s accustomed to seeing,” Chapman said of Devers. “It’s not easy to get traded and come in, and instantly be yourself. He’s getting more settled in, and you see him get more comfortable every day that he’s here. … When he feels good, he’s that dangerous.”
Since being traded to the Giants on June 15, Devers is slashing .240/.347/.449 with 12 homers and 31 RBIs. His strikeout-to-walk ratio hasn’t been great, with just 36 walks vs. 77 strikeouts, but the nine-year veteran has slowly put it together over the past month. His OPS in August has crept up to .959 from .705 in July, and he’s knocked eight homers this month while batting .273.
The Giants have now won four straight games after losing 11 of their previous 14.
“Baseball is a funny game,” Melvin said. “It can bite you, and you can go through stretches where you can’t really explain things. Some of the weird bounces, stuff like that. We weren’t getting much luck. We weren’t playing great after a long stretch of playing really well.
“Hopefully, this continues right now and we build, and we get that feeling that we had earlier in the season. Baseball is a funny game sometimes.”
And with Devers under contract for the next eight years, it’s a good sign for the Giants’ outlook beyond this season.
“I think obviously having him here for the long-term -- and some of the guys we have locked up -- it’s exciting for the future,” Chapman said. “But right now, we’re just focused on tomorrow.”