Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants, realizing major league fans have not seen regular-season baseball since 2019, tried to bake everything into one game.
There were encouraging signs from every department through seven innings. There was a new Giants team with a returned catcher who looked like the old Buster Posey and not an old Buster Posey. There was Kevin Gausman, who looked filthy. There were several dingers, including opposite-field shots from Austin Slater and Evan Longoria.
And then there was a collapse, a comeback and an extra-innings adventure with the ghost-runner-on-second rule.
After just one game — they need to play 161 more of these?! — the Giants experienced a bit of everything including a bit of heartbreak, falling 8-7 to the Mariners on Thursday in an eventful Opening Day at T-Mobile Park.
The knock-out came from a Jake Fraley walk off newcomer Jose Alvarez, who walked three without getting an out, a telling and crushing way to go out.
In the top of the 10th, Brandon Belt sacrificed Longoria, the ghost-runner, to third before Wilmer Flores grounded out. Posey flew out to right field, where Mitch Haniger made a nice sliding play.
It had been smooth until the Giants surrendered six eighth-inning runs, in which their relievers hit one batter and walked three more, only for Alex Dickerson to pinch-hit a game-tying home run in the top of the ninth to send it to extras.
Matt Wisler (two hits, one walk, no outs), Jarlin Garcia (who couldn’t find the strike zone, with a pair of walks) and Tyler Rogers were the culprits, although Belt played a supporting role. With the bases loaded and the Giants up one with one out, Rogers induced a ground ball from Jose Marmolejos — exactly what he was looking for — but Belt’s throw was too low for Brandon Crawford at second base, skipping away and two coming in for the Mariners.
The Giants needed Dickerson’s blast — pinch-hitting for Slater off righty Rafael Montero — just to give them a chance that they would waste.
There were fans — the sentient, rounded, breathing ones — in the stands to remind everyone that the world is slowly getting back to normal, even if the Giants’ bullpen did its best impression of 2020.
Prior to the dreaded eighth, there were legitimate avenues of hope, of avenues through which 2021 can be about a whole lot more than potential Posey, Crawford and Belt goodbyes.
It started with Gausman, who did not allow a hit until there were two outs in the fourth. He was a different kind of dominant, relying upon a fastball that he added some oomph to when he needed it. He topped out at 96.6 mph — a strike three to Evan White in the fourth — but the speed on his fastball, which he jammed at the top of the zone, was just enough all night. He threw 52 heaters, 42 of which went for strikes.
Last year, in breaking out with San Francisco, he leaned heavily upon his cutter, finishing off so many hitters with the disappearing pitch. He threw only 24 Thursday, but didn’t have his best putaway offering — and still shut down the Mariners over 6 2/3, one-run innings. He allowed just two hits and two walks, his last pitch going for a sacrifice fly.
A big factor into Gausman coming to the Giants in the first place was his battery mate. Posey, in his return to baseball, did not disappoint with the glove or bat.
It took just three pitches for the catcher to launch his first home run since Sept. 24, 2019, and third Opening Day dinger, jumping on a Marco Gonzales cutter and lining it to left.
Yeah, Buster’s Back pic.twitter.com/6wA7QOCX5B
— KNBR (@KNBR) April 2, 2021
His launch came two batters after Longoria recorded the Giants’ first hit, run and homer, going the opposite way to continue his torrid early going; he barely played the field in the Cactus League, yet he posted a silly 1.298 OPS, his bat looking a whole lot healthier than his plantar fasciitis-stricken foot. He was able to play the field without issue Thursday and made a running catch in foul territory.
You love to see it. pic.twitter.com/d7SIGQrPHo
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) April 2, 2021
Speaking of torrid springs, Slater had a sizzling spring and immediately showed off a good deal of why the Giants like him. As the first batter of the season for the club, he worked a walk. Two at-bats later, he flexed excellent opposite-field power and tagged Gonzales again. The Giants tagged the Seattle starter for five runs on eight hits and three walks in six innings.
That’s the kind of timely and patient bats the Giants strive to have this year: They out-homered Seattle 4-0. But they also walked eight batters, compared with Seattle’s four, which will stick with Gabe Kapler.
The Giants’ season began with shades of promise, but gave way to too many shades of darkness from last year.