Photo credit: @SFGiants
By Jeremy Kahn
SAN FRANCISCO — On back-to-back nights, the San Francisco Giants jumped out to a big lead on the lead; however, this time they won the game.
The first five Giants in the second inning got on base, and Evan Longoria drove in Buster Posey and Yangervis Solarte doubled in Brandon Crawford, Gerardo Parra then singled and after a Derek Holland strikeout, Kevin Pillar cleared the bases with a double, then newly acquired rounded out the scoring in the frame, as he singled in Pillar and the Giants would go on to defeat the San Diego Padres 7-2 before a crowd of just 28,506 at Oracle Park.
Holland took advantage of the run support, as he went seven innings, allowing one runs on five hits, walking two and striking out nine, as he won for the first time this season.
The nine strikeouts for Holland are his most since he struck out 11 for the Texas Rangers in a shutout against the Baltimore Orioles on August 30, 2015. The 11 strikeouts in that game tied a career high, Holland also struck out 11 on September 7, 2012 against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.
Despite allowing two singles and a walk in the top of the first inning, Holland received help from his defense.
Wil Myers singled with one out, but was thrown out trying to steal second base by Posey and then after a Manny Machado walk, Franmil Reyes singled off the left field wall; however, Brandon Belt made a perfect throw to Crawford, who threw to Solarte to end the inning and the Padres failed to score.
“You know, I was thinking about that when I was out there: I’m quickly becoming one of the best outfielders in the game,” said Belt.
Joey Lucchesi was shelled in his second start of the season against the Giants, as he went just four innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out four and lost for the first time this season after opening the season with two straight wins.
Pillar drove in his fourth run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, as he hit a sacrifice fly that scored Parra, who doubled to lead off the inning.
He is the first Giants player to have four runs batted in back-to-back games since Barry Bonds on April 2 and 3, 2002. During that two-game stretch, Bonds drove in nine runs against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Parra picked up hits in his first two at-bats, and scored both times before grounding out in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Padres finally got on the board in the top of the seventh inning, as Hunter Renfroe smashed a solo home run that landed approximately ¾ of the way into the left field bleachers and was measured at 423 feet.
Myers drove in the second run of the game for the Padres in the top of the eighth inning, as he hit a long double off of Trevor Gott to Greg Garcia.
The lone downfall to the game was the fact that the Giants in the first inning could not get it going, as they went down in order and are now 2-for-38 (.052) thru their first 12 games of the season in the opening frame.
NOTES: With the victory, the Giants have a chance to win the series on Wednesday. The last time the Giants lost their first four series of a season was in 1983, when they lost series to the Padres, the Philadelphia Phillies, at the Padres and the Cincinnati Reds.
Despite the no-decision on Monday night, Madison Bumgarner did move up on the all-time San Francisco Giants strikeout list, as he passed Gaylord Perry for fourth place on the San Francisco Giants list and is now seventh all-time in Giants history. In his career, Bumgarner has 1,607 strikeouts.
Posey tied Will Clark for fourth place on the San Francisco Giants list in doubles with 249 career doubles. He trails only Barry Bonds, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey.
The six run second inning by the Giants was their season high, and the most they have scored in an inning since also scoring six in the bottom of the eighth inning against the New York Mets on August 31, 2018.
UP NEXT: Dereck Rodriguez makes his second start of the homestand on Wednesday night, while Nick Margevicius takes the mound for the Padres.
