SAN FRANCISCO -- Ten days ago, Bob Melvin sat in the dugout at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati and tried to think of a polite way to frame his response.
Mike Yastrzemski was out of the lineup against a right-hander for the third game of the season, and Melvin had a very good reason for the move. He paused and then smiled before urging reporters to look up his right fielder's numbers against Nick Martinez. When the results -- 0-for-11 with seven strikeouts -- popped up on an iPhone screen, the answer was obvious.
The numbers are the numbers, but Melvin is old school, and sometimes it's still worthwhile to go with your gut. He has more autonomy to do that under Buster Posey, and on Tuesday night, he sought out Yastrzemski and delivered a message.
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For the manager, it was a way to reward a veteran who has backed the front office's faith through the first two weeks of the season. The Giants very easily could have moved on from Yastrzemski in the offseason, but he plays the brand of baseball that Posey wants to see return to Oracle Park, and there never seemed any doubt he would be the Opening Day right fielder. After the opener, Yastrzemski sat out the next two games in Cincinnati, but Melvin wanted to give him another shot at Martinez on Wednesday.
"The way he's been swinging the bat, he deserved it," Melvin said.
Yastrzemski entered the day with a .333 average, but he struck out in his first look at Martinez. Two innings later, though, he smoked a liner up the middle. Elly De La Cruz leaped to rob him of a single, but Yastrzemski felt his confidence surge. In the sixth, he lined a fastball from Martinez into the right field corner, helping to ignite a four-run rally.
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The Giants had trailed all afternoon and were down by five heading into the sixth, but Yastrzemski picked up the first of four consecutive two-out hits. The last three came with two strikes, and all of a sudden it was a one-run game.
"I felt like once we got to 6-5, we were going to win that game," Melvin said. "I think everyone in the dugout did."
Wilmer Flores' solo shot in the eighth tied it, setting the stage for the third walk-off win of a 4-2 homestand. It came on the first pitch Emilio Pagan threw to Yastrzemski with one out in the 10th, and it added to what will go down as a very successful Giants career, despite the late start.
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The walk-off was Yastrzemski's seventh career Splash Hit, putting him fourth in Oracle Park history behind Barry Bonds (35), Brandon Belt (10) and Pablo Sandoval (8). There have been just five walk-off Splash Hits in the ballpark's history and Yastrzemski has three of them. The next time Bonds visits, Yastrzemski will have some serious bragging rights.
Bonds got the first one in 2003 off Ray King and Brandon Crawford took Rex Brothers into the cove in 2014. Yastrzemski did it to San Diego's Matt Strahm in 2020 and got the Padres again three years later. Melvin remembers that one well; he was in the other dugout.
When Yastrzemski walked up to the plate Wednesday, all Melvin could think about was Ray Kerr. The lefty was the one who threw that pitch in 2023.
"We'd been hitting a lot of balls hard early in counts this whole series, a lot of them right at guys. I just wanted to keep the same mentality," Yastrzemski said. "Just be ready to go. I was just trying to put one in play."
The homer somehow was the first walk-off Splash Hit against a right-handed pitcher in the ballpark's 26-season history. It prevented a sweep and set up a very happy flight to New York for a team that never lost faith in the early innings Wednesday.
Justin Verlander gave up six runs, but he also threw his hardest pitch in two years and said it was the best he felt physically since 2022. The bullpen was going in the third inning, but Verlander got into the sixth, allowing Melvin to use his high-leverage relievers.
Randy Rodriguez, Tyler Rogers, Ryan Walker and Erik Miller kept the game close, allowing Yastrzemski to win it in extras. It was a game he didn't expect to start, but he took confidence from Melvin's decision, and a few hours later, he found himself in the middle of a celebration at home plate. When it was over, the 34-year-old said this is as much fun as he ever has had on a baseball field.
"It's an unbelievable group," he said. "Even when things got tough the last two days when we're not scoring any runs, we're still having fun, smiling, we're not letting it affect us. I think these are learning curves even for veteran guys. It's a nice reminder to just keep fighting."