Story by Robbie Lewis (@SayHeyRob)
3/30/24 RECAP: San Francisco Giants (1-1) vs San Diego Padres (2-2)
Fresh off Bob Melvin’s first career victory as Giants manager, he sent his new flame throwing righty, Jordan Hicks, to the mound. He would be opposed by the Padres prized off-season acquisition and soon to be ace, Dylan Cease. Could the Giants get above .500 for the first time all year? Or would the Padres bounce back behind their new lethal righty?
After an impressive 1st from both arms, the Giants engineered with a rally chance in the top of the 2nd. Wilmer Flores drew a one out walk and then Michael Conforto kept the magic “wandoo” going with a Texas league double down the left field line to set the Giants up with a 2nd & 3rd situation with still just the one out. That brought up Thairo Estrada and he’d get the job done with an RBI sac fly deep enough to even score Wilmer Flores to make it 1-0 Giants. Conforto remained at 2nd and that was all newly acquired catcher Tom Murphy needed as he proceeded to hit a piss rocket down the left field line for a two out RBI double to boost the Giants advantage to 2-0. A diving stab by Xander Bogaerts on a Nick Ahmed liner would halt the Giants rally at just the two runs. I was two beers deep at this point in case you cared.
San Diego engineered their first rally of the day against Jordan Hicks in the bottom of the 4th. Jake Cronenworth kept his hot bat going with a leadoff single into left field and Manny Machado followed him up with a single of his own to left field. Hicks bounced back by getting Ha-Seong Kim to foul out to Flores at 1st for out number one. That brought up Jurickson Profar and he hit a roller past Thairo Estrada into right field for yet another bastard single to load the bags up. These balls had had eyes in the bottom of the 4th, I gotta tell you. Hicks answered the call by getting Tyler Wade to whiff for out number two. That brought up Padres rookie phenom Jackson Merrill and he smoked one up the middle, but it was into the waiting glove of the perfectly positioned Nick Ahmed at shortstop to end the threat. The Giants would maintain their 2-0 lead into the 5th. Exhale. Drink. Repeat. All year.
After a blown opportunity in the 4th for the Padres, the Giants took the momentum and translated it into offense on their end of the top of the 5th. Tom Murphy drew a one out walk to get things going and that brought up Nick Ahmed. Ahmed laced liner into right field that would flat out handcuff Fernando Tatis Jr. and roll all the way to the wall. Murphy would have to hold at 3rd, but Ahmed would coast into 2nd with still just one out. Jung Hoo Lee then strode to the plate and would line out to the wall in right field for a sacrifice RBI fly out or make it 3-0. Very early obviously, but the good at bats are piling up for Yoo Hoo. Lovely to see. Very lovely. Padres manager Mike Shildt would then take the ball from Dylan Cease and hand it to fellow righty and ex-Yankee, Jhony Brito. Brito got Jorge Soler to fly out to end the frame with the good guys still leading 3-0.
Taylor Rogers came on for Jordan Hicks in the bottom 6th. Rogers promptly gave up a leadoff single to Cronenworth, but he’d then strikeout Manny Machado and get Ha-Seong Kim to pop out to Wilmer Flores. However, Jurickson Profar would come up and hit a ball past Matt Chapman at 3rd for an RBI double to make it 3-1. Chapman would surely tell us that he makes that play 9 out of 10 times, but not this time. Fortunately, Rogers would get pinch hitter Eguy Rosario to whiff to end the inning with the Giants still leading 3-1 heading to the late innings.
The Giants went silent in the top of the 7th and, to my surprise, Bob Melvin sent Taylor Rogers back out for the bottom half of the inning. Merrill would line out softly to Chapman over at 3rd and then Rogers would get Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka to whiff for out number two. Melvin then came out and took the ball from the lefty Rogers and gave it to his twin brother, Tyler. It’s still weird! Tyler Rogers would get the job done by getting Bogaerts to groundout to Chapman on one pitch. Could the Giants tack on against the suspect Padres pen?
Lefty slinger Tom Cosgrove took the rock for the Padres in the top of the 8th and that was good news for the Giants. Nick Ahmed went down looking to begin the inning, but then Jung Hoo Lee hit a majestic looking tater into the right field seats to make it 4-1. The first career dinger for Yoo Hoo and I was recapping it. Sometimes the world makes sense! Anyways, Jorge Soler then reached on an infield single and Austin Slater got an at bat as he pinched hit for LaMonte Wade Jr. He’d draw a walk and then Matt Chapman would rope a single into left field to load the bags up. Wilmer Flores kept the good times rolling with an RBI single to crank the Giants lead to 5-1. With the lefty Conforto coming up, Shildt elected to stay with his lefty Cosgrove. That turned out to be a fatal mistake in this one as Conforto would go on to blast a grand slam into the right field seats to bust the game open at 9-1. Not sure if we’d have seen Conforto face a lefty a year ago, but that’s not important. Forget I said anything.
Fast forward to the bottom of the 9th, Erik Miller would cough up a 2-run dinger to Eguy Rosario to push the Padres a bit closer at 9-3. After a Jackson Merrill walk and Kyle Higashioka strikeout, Bob Melvin called upon Camilo Doval for the first time this season. It was a shaky season debut for Doval as he’d walk Jose Azucar and give up a 3-run shot to Graham Pauley for his for career big fly. Hopefully it’s his last. Just kidding, but seriously. Anyways, Doval would finish the job by getting Cronenworth and Machado to groundout and give us our 9-6 Giants final. Slap hands!
First pitch tomorrow in San Diego will be at 1:10 PT as the Giants go for the series victory. Young righty Michael King will take the ball for the Padres and I’m not sure yet who the Giants plan to throw out there. My best guess is Keaton Winn or Daulton Jeffries, but by the time I post this you guys can tell me in the comments. Here’s hoping the Giants land a win on Easter Sunday!
DYLAN CEASE: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 6 K (3.86 ERA)
JORDAN HICKS: 5 IP, 3 H, BB, 6 K (0.00 ERA)
W: Hicks (1-0)
L: Cease (0-1)
Giants Chatter 