Giants third baseman Matt Chapman connect for RBI single in the third inning of Saturday’s game against the Yankees at Oracle Park. However, New York’s pitchers prevented any more runs in the game.
Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
Giants starter Tyler Mahle allowed two runs in four innings against the Yankees at Oracle Park on Saturday.
Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello takes the ball from pitcher Erik Miller during a pitching change in the eighth inning of a Saturday’s game against the Yankees at Oracle Park.
Jeff Chiu/Associated Press
One run was enough to end the San Francisco Giants’ record-tying futility of 20 scoreless innings to open the season — last occurring in 1909 — but it wasn’t enough to make much difference against the Yankees.
New York swept the series at Oracle Park with a 3-1 victory Saturday, with Aaron Judge hitting his second homer in two games and the ABS system playing a role again. For San Francisco, the theme remained the offense, and the winless start, but the Giants made things at least interesting in the ninth, with a two-on, no-out rally against Yankees closer David Bednar.
Heliot Ramos started things with a walk — he got a strike call overturned in the process — and Willy Adames singled, his first hit of the season, before Bednar struck out Harrison Bader and got Patrick Bailey to ground into a double play.
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Tony Vitello is the first San Francisco manager to open 0-3 since Danny Ozark in 1984. The last time the Giants started the season 0-3 was 2012, which turned out to be not such a bad season, with a parade and rings at the conclusion.
The Yankees flat out have the Giants’ number. They’ve won nine in a row at Oracle Park, ouch; the Giants last beat New York there June 24, 2007. San Francisco’s one run in the series is its fewest in a three-game series since scoring one in three games at Oakland in 2010, and it’s the Giants’ fewest in a home series since three games against St. Louis in 1949.
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Their one run is their fewest ever over the first three games of the season and their 12 hits are their fewest in the first three games since at least 1901.
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New York
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
33
3
7
3
2
10
Grisham cf
3
1
1
0
1
0
.167
Judge rf
4
1
1
1
0
1
.111
Bellinger lf
3
1
2
0
1
0
.250
Rice 1b
4
0
1
2
0
1
.250
Stanton dh
4
0
2
0
0
1
.500
Chisholm 2b
4
0
0
0
0
2
.286
Caballero ss
4
0
0
0
0
3
.375
McMahon 3b
4
0
0
0
0
0
.250
Wells c
3
0
0
0
0
2
.286
San Francisco
AB
R
H
BI
BB
SO
Avg.
Totals
32
1
9
1
3
8
Lee rf
3
1
1
0
1
1
.000
Chapman 3b
4
0
1
1
0
1
.000
Arraez 2b
4
0
2
0
0
1
.143
Devers dh
4
0
2
0
0
1
.125
Ramos lf
3
0
1
0
1
1
.286
Adames ss
4
0
1
0
0
1
.000
1-Oliva pr
0
0
0
0
0
0
—
Bader cf
4
0
1
0
0
1
.000
Bailey c
3
0
0
0
1
0
.000
Schmitt 1b
3
0
0
0
0
1
.000
New York
002
010
000_3
7
0
San Francisco
001
000
000_1
9
0
1-ran for Adames in the 9th.
LOB_New York 5, San Francisco 7. 2B_Rice (1), Lee (1), Devers (1). 3B_Bellinger (1). HR_Judge (1), off Borucki. RBIs_Rice 2 (0), Judge (2), Chapman (0). SB_Arraez (0), Grisham (0).
Runners left in scoring position_New York 2 (Stanton, Rice); San Francisco 1 (Ramos). RISP_New York 2 for 6; San Francisco 2 for 7.
GIDP_Bailey, Bader, Devers.
DP_New York 4 (Rice, Caballero; Chisholm, Caballero, Rice; Chisholm, Caballero, Rice; Chisholm, Caballero, Rice).
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
4
5
1
1
2
3
83
2.08
1
0
0
0
1
14
0.00
1
1
0
0
0
2
18
0.00
1
1
0
0
0
1
11
0.00
1
1
0
0
1
1
20
0.00
IP
H
R
ER
BB
SO
NP
ERA
4
5
2
2
1
5
80
4.50
1
1
1
1
0
1
15
0.00
1
0
0
0
0
1
8
0.00
1
0
0
0
0
1
9
0.00
1
0
0
1
1
20
0.00
0
0
0
0
0
2
0.00
1
0
0
0
0
1
15
0.00
Inherited runners-scored_Headrick 1-0, Bird 1-0, Brubaker 2-0.
Umpires_Home, Chad Whitson; First, Brian Walsh; Second, Bill Miller; Third, Chad Fairchild.
T_2:46. A_40,634 (41,915).
In the third inning, Jung Hoo Lee — moved into the leadoff spot after batting sixth the first two games — doubled to lead off against Will Warren and Matt Chapman knocked him in with a single to center.
The end, runs-wise. The Giants did outhit New York 9-7, but couldn’t get big hits in big spots. Ramos struck out in the first with men at the corners. Adames struck out on four pitches with men at the corners in the sixth, and Bader followed by hitting into a double play.
“I think today was better,” Adames said. “Obviously we didn’t get the big hit again, these first three games haven’t gone the way that we wanted, we didn’t want to start the season like that, but that’s how baseball goes. Now we have a new series, a new day to start fresh and start rolling.”
“Some of those at-bats, positions we put ourselves in, were certainly better and the execution was better, too,” Vitello said. “Guys look more comfortable, more relaxed, and you know, the numbers don’t completely tell that story on the scoreboard, but overall in the stat line and how the game went it certainly was a competitive effort from their part.”
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Adames, who’d hit cleanup the first two games, dipped down to sixth, and Vitello said before the game he thought Adames was overswinging a bit. Vitello also pinch-ran for Adames with Jared Oliva in the ninth with one out; he said he’d have used Oliva for Bader, instead, had Bader (who recently missed time with hamstring tightness) reached base.
Adames, who wants to play all 162, said of the move, “That’s like the first time that’s happened in my career. Tony makes the decision and you know he’s the manager.”
Adames was pinch-run for once with the Rays, on Sept. 29, 2019.
“I’d hate to have a play at the plate — as fast of a runner as Willy is, I know he doesn’t want to come out of the game — (but) you’d hate to have a regret that you got the fastest guy I’ve been around sitting in the dugout,” Vitello said of inserting Oliva.
Tyler Mahle made his Giants debut and went four innings, allowing two runs. Trent Grisham, with one out in the third, challenged a strike-three call, it was overturned and he walked. Cody Bellinger reached on a two-out single, and Ben Rice doubled both in. Giancarlo Stanton singled to left, and Ramos made the defensive play of the game for the Giants, with a strong throw to the plate to get Rice and end the inning.
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“I have confidence the work that I have been putting in, it’s going to pay off,” said Ramos, who’s emphasized improving his defense. “I think I’m a hard worker, and that’s the thing that matters the most, I was just under control. I was trying to make a good throw, the situation was in front of me, so I just took it.”
Judge’s homer came in the fifth off lefty Ryan Borucki, who was in to face a stretch of three left-handers in four batters. Judge, the third batter of the inning, was the lone right-handed hitter, and the numbers were in his favor: He had a homer in his three previous career at-bats against Borucki, who had a .117 average against lefties last year and a .338 mark against righties.
Pitching around Judge might have been the wisest course of action. “That was a consideration,” Vitello said, “and we didn’t do it, and he made us pay.”
Judge, who snubbed the Giants to stay with the Yankees after the 2022 season, was booed by Giants fans throughout the series. The Linden (San Joaquin County) native has a .348 average with five homers and nine RBIs in six career games at Oracle Park.
Seven ball-strike calls were challenged Saturday, with Giants catcher Patrick Bailey getting two calls overturned and Ramos doing the same, including on his leadoff walk in the ninth. “We needed a guy on base,” Ramos said. “You have to get on base, make something happen, and I saw the pitch, it was a breaking ball.”
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The bullpen is a plus so far, after a spring full of concern about its makeup; the relievers have worked 12⅔ innings in the three games and allowed just two runs with 13 strikeouts.
Vitello indicated before the game that the rotation in San Diego will be Landen Roupp on Monday, Logan Webb on Tuesday and Adrian Houser making his Giants debut on Wednesday.