Former Cubs hit HR on debuts with new teams

Kris bryant joined his former Chicago Cubs teammates on Sunday, Anthony Rizzo Y Javier Baez, to make an immediate impression with your new team.

Now with the San Francisco Giants, Bryant hit a solo home run with two outs in the third inning in a 5-3 win over the visiting Houston Astros at Oracle Park. Two days earlier, Rizzo hit a 449-foot solo hit in his debut for the New York Yankees, while Baez hit one of two runs in his first game with the New York Mets the next day.

The former Cubs became the first trio of former teammates in the modern era to start the season on the same team and then home run in their respective debuts with a new club later that season, according to research by the Elías Sports Bureau.

“I can’t say enough about this first day,” Bryant said. “I feel dizzy. Honestly, it felt like Christmas morning. ”

Acquired in a trade with the Cubs for two minor league prospects minutes before Friday’s deadline, Bryant was greeted with chants of “KB, KB, KB” as he jogged onto the field for pregame warm-ups and received a standing ovation. standing before his first at-bat of the game.

The four-time All-Star was applauded again after striking out with a swing. Those applause grew louder after Bryant crushed a 0-1 pitch from Luis Garcia (7-6) into the left field stands for his 19th home run this season.

“The first home run is weird,” Bryant said. “You don’t know what teams do when you come to celebrate on the bench, so I was a bit lost.”

The Giants said they expected Bryant to hit a home run given what his two former teammates accomplished.

“We were going to send him back if he didn’t home run himself,” joked the first baseman. Darin ruf, who hit a home run in the fifth. Fortunately we can retain it. It’s going to be very, very valuable to our team in the future. ”

It wasn’t a perfect debut for Bryant, who started at third base. His mistake on a ground shot from Martin Maldonado in the fifth inning he gave the Astros a running back in scoring position with no outs. But nevertheless, Logan webb he retired the next three batters to get out of trouble.

Still, Bryant made it clear how valuable he will be to the Giants as they try to stay ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres in the NL West.

“He’s a bat that really lengthens our group and improves our bench,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said of Bryant. “It makes it harder to get to the top of our lineup. It’s going to be good for us.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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