Giants homer past Padres

SF 3  SD 2

The Giants hit three solo home runs–Darin Ruf in the 2nd, Evan Longoria in the 4th, and Mike Yastrzemski in the 7th–and that was just enough to beat the Padres tonight in San Diego. Yaz had been scratched from the starting lineup but pinch-hit for Caleb Baragar with the game tied and got the big blow. Presumably his hand injury was acting up. He was hit by a pitch in the last Cactus League game and had been struggling at the plate in the early going. It was a dramatic blast but the win tonight really belonged to the pitchers. The lineup had a couple of other chances to score but could not get a clutch RBI and thus the bullpen had to step up.

Anthony DeSclafani got through the first five innings, yielding four hits and three walks on 86 pitches (23 batters), and got pipped for one run in the 2nd on a two-out hit. He showed a lot of grit and determination in the 4th to stymie a rally and got two big strikeouts to end the 5th, shutting down another big chance for the Padres. After that it was Matt Wisler who gave up the tying run on a triple that probably should have been caught in right-center. Mauricio Dubon and Austin Slater miscommunicated and it cost the Giants a big run. Caleb Baragar finished the 6th, and Reyes Moronta got three ground ball outs in the 7th. Tyler Rogers had a clean 8th and Jake McGee pulled off the save in the 9th. He put two guys on with two outs and gave up a long fly ball but it stayed in the park and the Giants had a satisfying, if nail-biting, win.

The Padres lost their superstar shortstop, Fernando Tatis, on a weird play. He struck out in the 3rd and fell down after the swing, grabbing his left arm. He was replaced by former KBO star Ha-Seong Kim. Tatis is of course a big part of San Diego’s future, let’s hope he isn’t seriously hurt.

Aaron Sanchez gets the ball tomorrow at 7:10 Pacific and faces Yu Darvish.

Go Giants!

–M.C.