SF Giants beat Padres for first win of season’s opening series
San Francisco Giants’ Matt Chapman (26), hit a two-run home run versus the San Diego Padres during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Friday, March 29, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy) Denis Poroy/Associated Press.
2024.03.29 – Matt Chapman homered twice and drove in five runs, the San Francisco Giants answered an Opening Day loss with a convincing 8-3 win against the San Diego Padres on Friday night.
Kyle Harrison (1-0), a 22-year-old lefty, got plenty of run support to overcome impressive home runs by Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. Tatis homered again off reliever Tyler Rogers.
It was the first victory with the Giants for Bob Melvin, who left the Padres after two seasons to take over his hometown team amid reports of an irreparable relationship with San Diego general manager A.J. Preller.
“Not for me, it’s us. The player of the game in there is Chapman,” Melvin said when asked if the team did anything special for his first win.
“I was excited for him to get his first win,” Chapman said. “I know how badly he wants to win every single day, so I didn’t want to make him wait too long. For me to be able to have a game like this it means a lot. That’s a guy I want to win for, do anything for, so it’s fun that it happened like this.”
2024.03.29 (SF Giants vs. SD Padres) See Full Highlights
San Francisco Giants’ Matt Chapman (26), right, is congratulated by Jorge Soler (2) after he hit a two-run home run as San Diego Padres catcher Luis Campusano (12) looks on during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Friday, March 29, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy) Denis Poroy/Associated Press.
2024.03.29 (SF Giants vs. SD Padres) See Full Highlights
2024.03.29 (SF Giants vs. SD Padres) See Full Highlights
Chapman hit a two-run homer, his first this season. He hit a massive two-run shot with one out in the ninth off the top level of the four-story brick warehouse in the left-field corner. He also had a hand in two nice double plays, including one for the first two outs in the ninth.
“It got out in a hurry,” Melvin said. “If it was any higher, it might have gone over the building.”
Said Chapman: “I was just hoping it stayed fair. I was just trying to get that run in. It’s valuable to get those runs in late in the game and that’s a good team, so no lead is safe.”
LaMonte Wade Jr. was on base with a single ahead of Chapman’s two-out homer in the first. Musgrove then hit Wilmer Flores with a pitch. Flores advanced on Michael Conforto’s single and scored on Thairo Estrada’s base hit.
Musgrove (0-1) struggled again in the fourth. He walked Patrick Bailey and hit Nick Ahmed with a pitch — the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters — with one out. Jung Hoo Lee then singled in Bailey to make it 4-0.
Machado homered with one out in the fourth, his second, and Tatis connected leading off the sixth, his first, to pull the Padres within two runs. Both were into the second deck in left field.
2024.03.29 – Giants vs. Padres – (NBC Sports – Post Recap)
San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Kyle Harrison delivers during the first inning of the team’s baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Friday, March 29, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy) Denis Poroy/Associated Press.
2024.03.29 – Giants vs. Padres – (NBC Sports Post Recap)
2024.03.29 – Giants vs. Padres – (NBC Sports – Post Recap)
But the Giants stretched out the lead when Soler doubled with one out in the seventh and scored on Chapman’s two-out double. Chapman scored on Flores’ single.
Tatis homered again in the eighth.
Harrison’s night
Primarily due to injuries elsewhere, the rookie ascended to No. 2 starter in this Giants rotation and looked very much the part. Key to his success this season will be his development of a changeup along with his fastball and slider. Against the Padres, Harrison went mostly to his fastball, throwing it 55 times out of his 76 total pitches.
“Fastball felt really good. The plan for me was to get ahead of guys and attack them as much as I can,” Harrison said. “I loved establishing that early.”
Chapman’s second home run as a Giant came in the ninth inning, a 424-foot two-run shot that clanked off the top floor of the brick building in left field to give the Giants a five-run lead. Chapman hit the ball with a 111.7 mph exit velocity.
Chapman’s shot in the ninth brought in Soler, who walked and advanced on two wild pitches.
Chapman also made the tag on Eguy Rosario, who got greedy rounding the bases on a ball bobbled at the warning track by right fielder Wade Jr. Wade found Estrada, the cutoff man, who made a perfect one-hop throw to Chapman for the out.
2024.03.29 – Giants vs. Padres – (KC post game)
SF Giants’ Matt Chapman (26) left, tags out at third base San Diego Padres’ Eguy Rosario (5) right during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Friday, March 29, 2024, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy) Denis Poroy/Associated Press.
2024.03.29 – Giants vs. Padres – (KC post game)
2024.03.29 – Giants vs. Padres – (KC post game)
Harrison, who struck out five over six innings with no walks, got a taste of having Chapman behind him on defense.
“Guy’s unreal,” Harrison said. “Even just the first game yesterday, watching the plays he’s making. Jeez. And the bat speaks for itself.”
Musgrove allowed four runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings, with three strikeouts and a walk. He’s allowed nine earned runs in.
Chapman’s show of power was the Giants’ answer to Padres stars Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado’s show-stopping solo home runs off rookie Harrison.
Perhaps it symbolized a transformation for the Giants, too. After an uninspired 2023 season that left fans yearning for star power and spark, this Giants team in the early going has shown it might have the pieces to go toe-to-toe with their rivals’ game-changing players.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Giants: RHP Luke Jackson was placed on the 15-day injured list with a lower back strain suffered Thursday. OF Mike Yastrzemski was placed on the paternity list. Recalled OF Luis Matos and RHIP Kai-Wei Teng from Triple-A Sacramento.
UP NEXT
Giants RHP Jordan Hicks is scheduled to start vs. Padres RHP Dylan Cease on Saturday. Hicks signed as a free agent in January and Cease was obtained in a trade with the Chicago White Sox on March 13.
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