They came in the form of double plays, a warning track shot cut down by a diving catch, called strikeouts and everything in between.
Spectacular or anti-climactic, the Giants went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position no matter the fashion. The backbreaker against San Diego on Monday night: Mauricio Dubón’s eighth-inning strikeout with the bases loaded that sent swaths of fans packing out of Oracle Park early.
Alex Wood was sharp but imperfect in his season debut; he only lasted 4.1 innings and allowed two earned runs. But the Giants’ bats didn’t pick him — or relievers Tyler Rogers, Dominic Leone, Camilo Doval and Zack Littell — up at all in a 4-2 Padres victory.
The first jam Wood ran into was in the second inning, when the southpaw surrendered a leadoff single then hit Luke Voit with a slider gone awry. Those runners advanced on a sharp groundout, and then catcher Joey Bart had to visit him twice in the span of about five minutes — perhaps because the PitchCom technology wasn’t working for them.
But Wood, whose fastball touched 95 mph after averaging 91.8 mph last year, cleared the traffic with back-to-back strikeouts. Eric Hosmer swung through Wood’s slider and Jurickson Profar took a high-and-tight heater.
The veteran lefty joined the Giants last year on a one-year, $3 million “prove it” deal. He’d been squeezed out of the Dodgers’ rotation and battled injuries.
On the other side of baseball’s best west coast rivalry, Wood ingratiated himself in the Bay as well as possible, recording a 3.83 ERA as SF’s fourth starter. He was a calming presence, routinely pitching effectively after losses.
The Giants rewarded him with a two-year, $25 million deal because he’s the most Giants-y of all their pitchers.
“He embodies our pitching philosophy: push the pace, pound the zone, know your plan,” Gabe Kapler said pregame. “Nobody knows their plan better than Woody. Any time he’s on the mound, it’s a pleasure to watch because of the funkiness of his delivery, but more importantly because he’s just a quality major league starter who does it in a way that exemplifies what we want in our organization.”
Wood’s pitch count rang up in the fourth inning as Manny Machado and Voit strung singles together. The Padres tied the game 1-1 with a swinging bunt that Wood’s throw was a millisecond late on, but again Wood limited the threat to one run.
The Giants responded to the gutsy escape by going down in order with Thairo Estrada, Joey Bart and Steven Duggar each striking out.
The first real barrel Wood allowed knocked him out of the game. He retook the mound in the fifth inning at 80 pitches — in the pitch count range the Giants want for their starters after a shortened spring — and soon after surrendered a solo home run to catcher Austin Nola. The bomb made it 2-1.
Zack Littell and Dominic Leone relieved Wood with lights out appearances, but the Giants bats still hibernated. SF spent the third through the fifth inning hitless.
Joc Pederson and Brandon Crawford led off the sixth with singles, but the order was 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position after Thairo Estrada hit into a double play. Then the Giants caught a break when a Steven Wilson fastball skipped to the backstop, allowing Pederson to score easily and tie the game at two.
The Giants threatened again in the bottom of the seventh when Mike Yastrzemski laced his first hit of the year and advanced to second on a wild pitch. But Brandon Belt flew out and then Darin Ruf jacked a shot to left-center, only for Jurickson Profar to range from left and make a diving catch.
Then came Dubón’s eighth-inning punch-out in a 3-2 ballgame. A single from Brandon Crawford then Joey Bart and Steven Duggar walks juiced the bases for the 27-year-old utility player. San Diego reliever Pierce Johnson started Dubón off with two hittable curveballs up in the zone, then beat him with a high fastball. Johnson finished him off with another curve, sending Dubón and three baserunners back to the dugout empty-handed.
The Giants supplied 10 hits on Monday, but came just one knock short. Dubón wasn’t the one to supply it, but neither was anyone else in the lineup who had the chance.
- Joey Bart drew two walks on Monday, bringing his total on the year up to four. In his 35 previous career MLB games, the catcher had walked just three times.
- Padres closer Taylor Rogers earned the save while his brother, Tyler, took the loss. His appearance made this the fifth time in MLB history that identical twins played in the same game. It was the first time that twin brothers pitched against each other.