San Francisco Giants’ Austin Slater singles during the third inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in Washington on Fri Apr 22, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Friday, April 22, 2022

Austin Slater had himself a night to remember on Friday in the nation’s capital.

The San Francisco outfielder saved a pair of runs with a sparkling catch in the field, then clubbed his first home run of the season, sparking the Giants to a 7-1 win over the Washington Nationals.

In the bottom of the first inning, Slater, batting .105 and making his third start of the season, made a diving catch on a sinking liner to left field off the bat of that likely prevented two runs from scoring.

Just minutes later, in the top of the second, Slater hit a three-run homer to right-center,
Slater’s blast sparked a seven-run rally that chased Nats starter Patrick Corbin (0-3).

San Francisco batted around in the second, with six hits and two walks, including a three-run double by Brandon Crawford. Mike Yastrzemski’s RBI single to center started the rally.

Crawford finished 3-for-5 with a run and three runs batted in. Slater, Yastrzemski, Darin Ruf and Thairo Estrada each collected two hits.

The Nationals’ lone run came in the bottom of the eighth, when Maikel Franco hit his second home run of the season to left field off Giants reliever Yunior Marte.

Corbin worked 1 2/3 innings and has an ERA of 11.20 through four starts. Washington owes him $70 million on a free agent contract he signed after the 2018 season.

With Alex Wood’s next start pushed back to Saturday, the Giants forged a bullpen game with Sam Long serving as the opening pitcher, throwing two scoreless innings. Jakob Junis (1-0) worked the next five innings, striking out four and giving up three hits and no walks, to get his first win of the season, Jarlin Garcia gave up one walk in s scoreless ninth.

Off the field, the Giants placed outfielder Steven Duggar on the 60-day injured list with a strained left oblique, and pitcher Anthony DeSclafani is on the 10-day IL to address right ankle inflammation.

On Saturday, Wood (1-0, 1.93) will face Washington starter Paolo Espino (0-0, 4.91) in a 10:05 a.m. PDT start.