ARLINGTON, Texas — Eddys Leonard started smiling before he could even round first base. He had waited nine years for this moment, and he wasn’t going to wait a second longer to start celebrating.

With two outs in the top of the second, the Giants’ utilityman smashed a 106.7 mph line drive to left field. The Texas Rangers’ Wyatt Langford, an excellent defender, turned his back, took several hard steps, leaped and extended his glove, but the ball found grass and one-hopped the wall. Leonard cruised into second, clapped his hands and pointed towards his mom, dad, wife and friend in the stands.

“I thought he was going to catch that ball,” Leonard said. “As soon as he hit it, I thought, ‘Oh my God, he’s going to catch it.’ Then, when I saw the ball went over his head, I [thought], ‘Thank you, God.’”

Leonard, 25, took more than 3,000 plate appearances in the minors between signing with the Dodgers as an international free agent in July 2017 and collecting his first major-league hit on Wednesday. In an otherwise listless 6-0 loss, Leonard’s milestone was a moment worth celebrating.

“I’m going to give [the ball] to my mom and my dad,” Leonard said. “They deserve it. None of this could be possible without them because of the things they did when I was a little kid.“

“He’s kind of been on a mission to show that he wants to put in work, but also that he wants to be a good teammate,” said manager Tony Vitello. “It’s kind of crazy, the unfamiliarity, to be honest with you, when a guy arrives, but the first thing you notice during BP, it’s a loud bat. When he gets it on the barrel, he’s obviously got some strength.”

The rookie’s first career hit was just about the extent of the positives in a loss that dropped the Giants to 48-67, a season-low 19 games below .500, while concluding a 2-5 road trip.

Rookie left-hander Carson Whisenhunt failed to complete four innings in a second straight start, surrendering four runs and walking four batters over 3 1/3 innings. Whisenhunt now has a 7.25 ERA over five starts this season.

“I think I was throwing the ball pretty well in [Sacramento], and it’s just not translating right now,” Whisenhunt said. “We’ll figure it out at some point, hopefully, but just have to keep working and see what happens.”

Whisenhunt didn’t mix in any sinkers, a pitch he’s been developing, and said he would like to find opportunities to use the two-seamer going forward.

“Moving forward, it’s going to be the fourth pitch,” Whisenhunt said. “Eventually, we’ll see kind of where it goes this year. Ideally, find more spots to use it, get more comfortable with it.”

Starting opposite Whisenhunt was the Rangers’ Cody Bradford, who pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings in his first appearance in the majors since Sept. 25, 2024.

Up next

Following an off day on Thursday, the Giants will start a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers. Friday’s starter has yet to be announced, but Landen Roupp and Logan Webb will start over the weekend.

On Saturday, Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Joe Panik and Pablo Sandoval will be inducted into the team’s Wall of Fame.