After hitting his first home run of the season in the fifth inning, San Francisco Giants third baseman David Villar felt he was due. He sent a Jose Ruiz offering deep into left field to extend San Francisco’s lead in the top of the ninth. The Giants were already up 7-3 when Villar stepped to the plate. The David Villar grand slam was their sixth home run of the contest and one of seven total blasts.
Villar is the third player to hit a grand slam this season, joining Trayce Thompson of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Brice Turang of the Milwaukee Brewers.
With the win, the Giants got back to a .500 record. They dropped two of three in the Bronx, but they should get back on track with upcoming games against the White Sox and Kansas City Royals.
David Villar Grand Slam: In-Game Context
Joc Pederson opened the home run ledger with a second-inning blast off starter Michael Kopech. Robert Perez tacked on an RBI single before Kopech escaped the inning. The Giants scratched another run across in the third, but the floodgates opened in the fifth.
After Kopech retired LaMonte Wade Jr., Michael Conforto and Thairo Estrada left the yard with back-to-back home runs. Kopech got Pederson to fly out. Then, Mike Yastrzemski put the Giants up 6-0 with a deep drive to right. Villar followed suit, giving the Giants a pair of back-to-back blasts.
The White Sox answered with two runs in the seventh and a Luis Robert home run in the eighth.
With a four-run cushion, Estrada, Wilmer Flores, and Yastrzemski reached to bring Villar up to the dish. Villar turned on a 95.5 mile-per-hour heater to put the Giants ahead 11-3 and close out the game. After Ruiz allowed another home run two batters later, the White Sox opted to bring in Hanser Alberto, a position player, to pitch.
David Villar Grand Slam: In-Season Context
The Giants failed to score in two of three games against the New York Yankees, so the 12-run outburst was a welcome sight. They had scored seven runs in the middle game of the Yankees’ series, but they had a much more productive day on Monday. All told, the Giants had 14 hits including seven home runs and a Yastrzemski double.
Villar had started the season 2-for-10 with a pair of singles. With his two home runs, he is already over 20% of the way to his 2022 total of nine blasts. He could be a welcome influx of power to an inconsistent lineup.
David Villar Grand Slams: Career History
Of Villar’s first 10 home runs, only four had been multi-run jacks. His 11th home run was the first grand slam of his career. Villar should have ample time to add to his tally, however, as he is only 26 years old.
On the pitching side, it was also the first grand slam Ruiz had allowed in his career.
David Villar Grand Slam: Statcast Stats
Villar launched the ball 410 feet, hitting it at 106.8 miles per hour. He had a respectable 25-degree launch angle, resulting in a barrel. The game featured 11 barrels including all eight of the game’s home runs. Eloy Jimenez barreled a single while Tim Anderson (lineout) and Pederson (flyout) made outs on barrels. Statcast reported that the David Villar grand slam had a .960 expected batting average, and it would have been a home run in all 30 parks.
Villar’s first home run was only hit at 98 miles per hour with a 30-degree launch angle. It would have been a home run in 23 of 30 parks, including Villar’s home in San Francisco. The home run went 365 feet, the shortest of the game’s home runs.
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