By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, March 28, 2015

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona – On a 94-degree afternoon at Scottsdale Stadium, 8,893 fans cheerfully spent 2 hours and 52 minutes watching a 2-2 nine-inning exhibition baseball tie between the San Francisco Giants and a split-squad of the organization’s top prospects.

It was the Giants’ second tie game of the spring, and their first since March 9 (5-5 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers).

Second baseman Austin Slater was 2-for-2 with a solo home run for the Futures, and outfielder Jaret Parker went 2-for-4. Third baseman Mitchell Delfino drove in the other Futures run.

Slater, an eighth-round draft choice in 2014, hit .350 last year at Stanford. In his first season as a pro, Slater hit a combined .346 with two home runs and 23 RBI for the Arizona League Giants and Salem Keizer (Northwest League)

The Giants Futures scored both of their runs in the top of the fourth. With one out, Slater homered to right. Mac Williamson and Parker followed with singles, and Delifino grounded out to second, scoring Williamson.

San Francisco tied the game with two runs in the bottom of the seventh. Pinch-runner Blake Miller – replacing Hector Sanchez, who singled – went to second on a wild pitch, to third on a fly to center and scored when Devin Harris doubled to center. Joaquin Arias, who walked, scored the second Giants run on a wild pitch by Rodolfo Martinez.

Harris was 2-for-3 and collected the Giants’ only RBI.

Nine different pitchers saw action for the Futures. Though Martinez wound up with a blown save, he struck out two and gave up one hit. Collectively, the Futures pitchers gave up five hits and no earned runs.

Yusmeiro Petit worked the first five innings for the Giants, logging five strikeouts, one walk and two earned runs. Chris Stratton, Keury Melia, Chase Johnson and Luis Ysla held the Futures scoreless on three hits over the final four innings.

The Giants have three more games in Scottsdale before heading back to the Bay Area for the annual preseason series with Oakland April 2-4. The Giants host the Dodgers (Sunday), travel to Mesa on Monday to play the Chicago Cubs, then return to Scottsdale for games agaisnst Colorado (Tuesday) and Cleveland (Wednesday).

CACTUS NEEDLES: San Francisco announced after the game that RHP Curtis Partch was reassigned to the club’s minor league camp. Partch, a 2005 Giants draft choice, spent 2013 and 2014 with Cincinnati. … INF Casey McGehee has started 18 games at third base forthe Giants this spring. … Giants OF Nori Aoki is tied for the Cactus League lead with three triples. … 1B Brandon Belt leads San Francisco with three homers, eight RBIs and a .327 average coming into Saturday’s game. … The Giants’ annual Play Ball Luncheon will be held Friday, April 3, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the Hilton San Francisco (333 O’Farrell). This is the Giants Community Fund’s largest fundraising event. … Word out of the Athletics camp in Mesa is that Tyler Clippard will start the season as Oakland’s closer, Manager Bob Melvin told the media. Clippard, the winning pitcher in the 2011 All-Star Game, had spent most of his career as a setup reliever in Washington before he was acquired by the A’s this past winter. He was pressed into duty as the Nats’ closer in 2012, when Drew Storen became ineffective. Sean Doolittle, the A’s incumbent closer, is set to start the season on the disabled list (shoulder). … A’s LHP Barry Zito has looked impressive enough in Mesa that other teams are seriously scouting the former Cy Young Award winner in case the A’s cut him loose. Zito has enjoyed a solid spring and may head north with the Athletics as a fifth starter or long reliever.