SAN FRANCISCO — If you watched Thursday night’s game and felt like it had been a while since this Giants lineup did that to a lefty, you’d be correct.
The Giants scored six runs off New York Mets southpaw David Peterson and put nine hits on his line while cruising to a 7-2 win in their return to Oracle Park. That was their biggest outburst against a lefty since June 30, 2024, when they had a dozen hits off Los Angeles’ James Paxton.
The lineup has been completely overhauled since then, and on Thursday, the newcomers played a big part.
Luis Arráez got the Giants going with an RBI triple in the first and they tacked on two more in the frame. Heliot Ramos and Arráez jump-started a rally in the third and San Francisco took a 5-2 lead on sacrifice flies from Jung Hoo Lee and Harrison Bader. Rafael Devers kept the crowd buzzing with his first homer of the year in the sixth, and that also came off a lefty, this time Sean Manaea.
After picking up 16 hits against the San Diego Padres earlier in the week, the Giants had 13 on Thursday. It was a complete attack, too. Rookie Daniel Susac reached base four times and Casey Schmitt had three hits a day after a rocky defensive performance.
Susac Attack
Susac’s big league debut came on Wednesday, and didn’t include an at-bat. He came on to catch after Jerar Encarnacion pinch-hit for starter Patrick Bailey.
On Thursday, Susac got his first start, and he wasted no time pleasing the large group of Susacs sitting in the family section. The Roseville native singled to right-center on the first pitch he saw in the big leagues, and he picked up another first-pitch single in the third inning.
In the fifth, Susac drew a walk. Two innings later, he smoked a fastball from Manaea up the middle at 105 mph.
Susac became the first Giants rookie since Kevin Frandsen in 2006 to record at least three hits and reach base four times in his first career start. Frandsen had three hits and got hit by a pitch in his debut.
Ray’s Day
It wasn’t always pretty for Robbie Ray. He gave up an RBI double and solo homer in the first two innings and Harrison Bader reached up to the top of the wall in the third to prevent a two-run homer. Ray also walked three and ran a high pitch count.
But, he struck out seven and got outs when he needed them, and he got some hideous swings from Mets stars, particularly on a revamped slider. Bo Bichette nearly screwed himself into the dirt while swinging at one early in the game.
Ray ended up allowing just the two earned runs while pitching into the sixth. That’s when things got really interesting. Ryan Walker, who had the only save of the year for the Giants, was the man to replace him.
Welcome To This Side
Tony Vitello is usually on the dugout steps, but when Blade Tidwell got back after a quick seventh inning, it was Frank Anderson who was there to greet him with a fist bump. That was appropriate, too.
Anderson was Tidwell’s pitching coach at Tennessee, where he played for Vitello before getting taken in the second round of the 2022 draft by the Mets. He made his debut for them last year before being included in the Tyler Rogers deal, and on Thursday, he got to pitch as a Giant for the first time, and against his old team.
Tidwell came on in the seventh and gave up an infield single right away. He wiped that out with a double play and then got a grounder to short to end the inning.
Schmitt’s leaping grab led to an unassisted double play that ended the eighth and Tidwell, who has been stretched out as a starter in Triple-A, came back out for the ninth. He ended up picking up the rare three-inning save in his first game in orange and black.