San Francisco Giants hitter Matt Chapman (26) connects for a two run homer in the top of the ninth inning at Petco Park in San Diego on Fri Mar 29, 2024 (AP News photo)

Friday, March 29, 2024

Petco Park

San Diego, California

San Francisco Giants 8 (1-1)

San Diego Padres 3 (2-2)

Win: Kyle Harrison (1-0)

Loss: Joe Musgrove (0-1)

Time: 2:25

Attendance: 45,427

By Stephen Ruderman

Kyle Harrison pitched six strong innings, while allowing just two runs, and Matt Chapman went 3-for-5 with two home runs, a double and five RBIs to lead the Giants to their first win of the 2024 Season, as they beat the Padres 8-3 on a cool Friday night at Petco Park in San Diego.

The Giants dropped the opener yesterday after the Padres scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but the Giants did not seem to be too bothered by it, and looked to get their first win of the year tonight. 

With Blake Snell not yet ready to go, Kyle Harrison begins the season as the number-two starter in the Giants’ rotation, and thus he got the start tonight. Harrison was opposed by the right-hander, Joe Musgrove.

Jung-hoo Lee signled to lead off the game, but Jorge Soler hit into a 6-4-3 double play. It appeared as if it was going to be a quick and quiet top of the first inning for the Giants. However, LaMonte Wade Jr. singled to center, and Matt Chapman hit a two-run home run to right-center field . 

Wilmer Flores was then hit in the elbow with a pitch. Michael Conforto got Flores to third on the longest single of the year that hit off the bottom of the wall in right-center, and Thairo Estrada singled to left-center to score Flores to make it 3-0.

Kyle Harrison survived a two-out double by Jake Cronenworth in the bottom of the first, and  both pitchers threw 1-2-3 innings in the second. The Giants were unable to do anything with a leadoff single by Wade in the top of the third, and Harrison gave up a one-out single to Jose Azocar, but pitched a scoreless bottom of the third.

Patrick Bailey walked with one out in the top of the fourth, and Nick Ahmed was hit by a pitch immediately afterwards. That put runners at first and second with one out for Lee, who hit a ground ball up the middle and into center field for a base-hit that scored Bailey to make it 4-0 Giants.

Manny Machado hit a bomb into the front of the second deck out in left to put the Padres on the board with one out in the bottom of the fourth. Ha-seong Kim followed Machado’s home run by lining a single to left. Harrison was being tested for the first time tonight, but he got Jurickson Profar to fly out to center, and got Luis Campusano to pop out to second to end the inning.

Musgrove pitched a 1-2-3 top of the fifth, and Eugy Rosario led off the bottom of the fifth by hitting a high fly ball to right-center that was dropped by right-fielder LaMonte Wade, but Wade regrouped and threw the ball in to second-baseman Thairo Estrada, who made the relay throw to throw to nail Rosario. Harrison then kept his groove going, as he retired the next two batters he faced to end the inning.

Bailey singled with two outs in the top of the sixth to knock Musgrove out of the game, and Padres Manager Mike Shildt went to Stephen Kolek, who got Ahmed to ground out and end the inning.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a home run to left to lead off the bottom of the sixth, this one deeper than Machado’s, as it sailed to the back of the second deck. Tatis’ home run made it a 4-2 game, but Harrison retired the next three men he faced. 

“As soon as I gave it up, it was on to the next [guy],” said Harrison. [I’ve] given up too many now to look down on it, or carry it on to the next pitch.”

That would do it for Harrison, who threw 76 pitches and gave up just two runs over six innings of work. One of Harrison’s struggles last season was his control, but tonight, he was in command, as he struck out five and didn’t issue a single walk.

“I’d say [I’ve] just been able to pitch; I’ve [been] able to slow the game down, and trust myself and trust my execution,” Harrison said of his differences between this and last season. “[It] felt good to be able to be in control of the game. I think that’s the big difference I felt.”

Kolek was back out on the mound for the Padres in the top of the seventh. Lee grounded out to second to start the inning, but Soler, who had grounded into a pair of double plays, doubled to right-center. Chapman then came up, and hit a double into the gap in left-center to make it 5-2. 

“With runners in scoring position, “[I] try to remind [my]self not to do too much,” said Chapman. “I just tr[ied] to put a good swing on the ball.”

Flores then singled to center to score Chapman and make it 6-2, and the Giants had their four-run lead back.

Landen Roupp came in to make his major league debut in the bottom of the seventh. Roupp hoped to mirror Erik Webb’s big league debut yesterday, where Webb threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth, but Roupp gave up a one-out base-hit to Campusano. However, Roupp retired Tyler Wade and Jackson Merrill to end the inning.

Enyel De Los Santos, who came in for Kolek after Flores’ RBI single in the seventh, was back out for the eighth. Bailey singled to right with one out, and when Tatis booted the ball, Bailey was fully expecting it, and did not hesitate in going to second. The Giants were in business to add to their four-run lead, but De Los Santos got out of the jam unscathed.

Tyler Rogers came in to make his 2024 debut in the bottom of the eighth, and went from a 3-0 count, to a 3-2 count, to a groundout to third from Xander Bogaerts to start the inning. Tatis then hit a line-drive home run to left that went into an open door and into the Padres’ team store at the base of the Western Metal Supply Co. Building for his second home run of the night to make it a 6-3 game.

Rogers has been very successful in his four-plus years with the Giants, but he has had a tendency to have those innings where everything went south on him. Rogers hit Cronenworth, and got Machado to a 3-2 count, as it appeared this was going to be one of those innings. However, Rogers threw a sinker that Machado hit to second for a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Pedro Avila came in for San Diego to start the ninth, and walked Jorge Soler, who later advanced to second on a wild pitch. LaMonte Wade struck out, but Matt Chapman hit his second home run of the night, a bomb that sailed into the upper deck of the Western Metal Supply Co. Building to give the Giants their biggest lead of the night at 8-3.

Giants Closer Camilo Doval had been warming up in preparation for a potential save situation, but with Chapman’s second home run, Bob Melvin went to Ryan Walker, who relieved Luke Jackson in the Padres’ four-run bottom of the seventh in the opener yesterday. 

Walker did give up a leadoff base-hit to Kim, but he then got Profar to ground into the not-so-common 5-6-3 double play to get the first two outs. Luis Campusano then grounded out to second, and the Giants had their first win of the season.

“I think yesterday, we took great at-bats, and we [were] still battling at the end of the game,” said third-baseman Matt Chapman. “Mikie [Conforto] hit that homer, and we were able to have that momentum going into today…..It’s nice when we can jump on them in the first inning like that.”

With the Giants in the in column for the first time this season, they are now 1-1. This is not only the Giants’ first win of the season, but this is Bob Melvin’s first win as the Giants’ manager. In his postgame press conference, Melvin gave all the credit to the team, particularly to Matt Chapman. It was only fitting that Chapman, who played for Melvin in Oakland with the A’s, was a big part of it.

Kyle Harrison got his first win of the season, and Joe Musgrove took the loss.

“The plan for me to[night] was to really just get ahead of guys and limit the walks,” said Harrison. “I was still pissed about the two bombs. Obviously, you don’t want to give those up as a pitcher, but we got the win, so that’s all that matters.”

Harrison also said that Logan Webb, who Harrison worked out and trained with in the off-season, was the first guy to reach out to him after his start tonight. Harrison expressed how grateful he was to have Webb on his side.

Over the first two games of the season, the Giants have been playing small ball and manufacturing runs. It’s a big difference from the over-reliance the team had on home runs under Gabe Kapler over the last four years. 

The Giants did play their fair share of situational baseball during their run in June last season, but for whatever reason, went back to overly relying on home runs. If the Giants can stay consistent with not overly relying on one approach this season, it will carry them a long way.

Jordan Hicks is scheduled to make his Giants debut tomorrow in what will be his first start of his reliever-to-starter experiment. Hicks pitched five no-hit innings in the Giants’ exhibition game in Oakland against the A’s on Monday night. 

Tomorrow’s game is set to be nationally televised by FOX with the first pitch at 4:15 p.m., but with rain in the forecast in San Diego, there is no guarantee that tomorrow’s game will be played.

News and Notes:

• The Giants made two roster moves prior to tonight’s game. 

Luke Jackson was placed on the 15-day Injured List after tweaking his back in the Giants’ opener yesterday; and Mike Yastrzemski, whose wife is expected to give birth to the couple’s second child, has been placed on the paternity list. 

Luis Matos and Kei-Wei Teng were called up. Teng, a right-handed relief pitcher, was born in Taiwan, and if he appears in a game with the Giants, he will be the first taiwanese-born player in franchise history.