BOSTON — Lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning Thursday, Mike Yastrzemski finally got a chance to soak it all in. With no more at-bats to worry about or fly balls to field, the 33-year-old with rich bloodlines in these parts took a seat on the bench and began to scan the 112-year-old jewel box ballpark.
“I’ve sat there,” Yastrzemski thought to himself.
And there. And there. And there.
And, yes, way out there, beyond the right field fence. Where a waist-high wall gives way to dueling bullpens, which sit below stacks of grandstands. That is where Yastrzemski’s home run in the third inning landed, powering his Giants to a 3-1 win over the Red Sox and continuing his family’s long legacy in this ballpark.
“I’m looking around and I’m like, I have my greatest childhood memories here,” Yastrzemski said. “It’s special no matter what. The amount of history that’s here, especially for my family, it’s always special to play here in general, and to hit a homer is really cool.”
Prior to the ill-fated cutter from Red Sox starter Josh Winckowski, the Yastrzemskis had been responsible for depositing 238 baseballs on the other side of Fenway Park’s fences. All but one of them belonged to Carl Yastrzemski, who slugged the final homer of his Hall-of-Fame career in 1983, seven years before his only grandson was born.
The 239th in family history provided the Giants their first run and the only one they scratched across until rallying for two runs in the seventh inning to break a 1-1 tie.
Patrick Bailey, Matt Chapman and Thairo Estrada strung together consecutive hits to begin the inning, and manager Bob Melvin called on Austin Slater to pinch-hit for Yastrzemski, driving a sacrifice fly to provide an insurance run.
“It got a smile out of me,” Melvin said of Yastrzemski’s home run.
Making it even more special, the homer came on the same day “Papa Yaz” paid a rare visit to Fenway Park.
After rounding first base, Yastrzemski gestured to the right field seats — that was for the relievers who were giving him grief, he said — then pointed to the large contingent of family and friends whom he grew up with in Essex County, some 20 miles north of Boston.
“They were just all up there, and I could hear them going nuts,” Yastrzemski said. “I don’t really have a whole lot of routines after I hit home runs. It was just nice to thank them for all the support they’ve given me.”
The Giants salvaged a win in the series finale to avoid a sweep and improve their record at Fenway Park to 3-8 all-time, but they hardly solved their offensive woes. The three runs held up behind five gritty innings from Kyle Harrison, who issued five walks and hit a batter but allowed the Red Sox to turn that into only one run.
Melvin and Harrison agreed that a tight top of the strike zone from home plate umpire Mark Wegner wasn’t helpful. Twelve of Harrison’s 21 pitches in the first inning were outside the strike zone, and he required 95 total to complete five innings. The five walks equaled the amount he had issued over his first six starts.
“Definitely early on, I could tell,” Harrison said of the strike zone. “But that’s on me to really be in the zone earlier, get ahead, and then get the chase that I want. When you throw over the plate a little more, you’ll get those calls.”
It has been more than a week — since last Tuesday — since the Giants last eclipsed three in the scoring column.
“When you win a game, you don’t really concern yourself with that,” Melvin said. “It’s when we’re losing games and not getting many hits or scoring many runs. We did enough today and played a really good game.”
Yastrzemski, meanwhile, only continued to heat up playing in the ballpark where he holds a familial connection.
His home run was the second he has hit here, having also gone yard during his first visit as a rookie in 2019, and he improved to 6-for-20 with three extra-base hits, four RBIs and six runs scored all-time at Fenway Park. All three of his home runs this season have come in the past 11 games, over which he is batting .379 (11-for-29).
“Just really good at-bats,” Melvin said. “He’s hanging in there, not pulling off, not giving you any bad swings anymore, making pitchers work, and his defense always plays. He’s just comfortable now.”
Up next
In the middle of 16 straight games — their longest stretch without a day off this season — the Giants head next to Philadelphia, where they begin a four-game series Friday. Jordan Hicks (2-0, 1.59), Keaton Winn (3-3, 3.18) and Logan Webb (3-2, 2.98) are scheduled to get the ball in the first three games against Aaron Nola (4-1, 3.20), Ranger Suarez (5-0, 1.32) and Taijuan Walker (1-0, 8.53) before the Giants must again decide what to do in Blake Snell’s rotation spot.
