SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants went all in on the captaincy issue before Friday’s game, driving a boat onto the field and letting Brandon Belt throw the ceremonial first throw with a fake “C” on his chest. At the end of the day, Thairo Estrada, Austin Slater and the youth took the spotlight.
Estrada had a huge game-winning homer in the ninth, and Slater won it with a double to the left that brought Darin Ruf home in the tenth.
The 6-5 win over the Miami Marlins was the Giants’ first walkoff win in their opener in 35 years, and it came with plenty of drama.
Camilo Doval gambled away a two-run lead in the top of the ninth, but Estrada reconnected it with a blast late in the inning.
The automatic runner rule is back, but John Brebbia and Jose Alvarez teamed up to keep the Marlins off the board at the top of 10th place.
Mauricio Dubon was seeded second at the end of the inning, but he was thrown out when he tried to back into the pocket after tagging a flyball to the right. Slater unhooked him and pulled the game winner into the left corner of field.
Early on, the stars were a pair of 25-year-olds.
Joey Bart hit his first career homer and caught another strong performance from Logan Webb, who, like Bart, made his first opening day start. The Giants were extremely sloppy at times, but they also capitalized on Miami’s mistakes. A mistake resulted in the first run of the season and Bart added an insurance run with his blast midway to the Bay Bridge.
Looking like last season’s version, Webb went 3-0 up in the seventh inning. Two batters later it was 3-2, but Tyler Rogers came in for Dominic Leone and took the Giants out of the inning with two strikeouts.
Jake McGee took the lead on Doval, who received a two-run cushion thanks to a solo shot from Captain Belt. Doval, who was closer last season, gave up three runs, including a two-run homer by Jazz Chisholm Jr., but the lineup got him off the hook.
On the black board
The Giants didn’t make a splash during the offseason, but it was still a pretty big day for some of their new players and some familiar faces in new roles. Joc Pederson went 0-1 on his debut with a walk. Estrada hit a homer and showed a smooth glove in his first game in a role that could end up becoming a commonplace role.
Bart had his greatest day hitting the first run, leading Webb through his six-plus innings and then firing a solo shot to the left in the fifth. Bart’s first on The Show left his racquet at 108.9 mph and walked an estimated 414 feet.
He became the first Giants rookie to hit a homer on Opening Day since J.R. Phillips in 1995 and the first Giant to hit his first career homer on Opening Day since Will Clark in 1986. Clark was the last Giant ahead of Bart, who took second overall.
RTI
It was appropriate that Tim Flannery was in town for the NBC Sports Bay Area pre- and post-game shows because the first heat of the season was a run thrown in that would have suited 2012 perfectly.
With two outs in the third and Bart first, Belt pushed a bunt the other way to try to hit the shift. It was placed well enough that Belt would have gotten a single, but when Joey Wendle threw the ball over the right field line, Bart scored from the start.
Bart was the eighth fastest catcher in the league in 2020, so in that regard at least he’ll bring something Buster Posey didn’t have. He scored as high as 26.7 feet per second, just a touch below the league average of 27 for all position players.
In his first game as third base coach, Mark Hallberg made a good call and Bart scored from standing when Avisail Garcia grabbed the ball and made a weak throw home. Belt made it 2-0 after Ruf’s hard single to the right.
Exactly where he left off
Webb was on a pitch count because of the short spring and he had almost no chance of making it. While covering first base in the third inning, Webb caught a thorn in the grass and appeared to injure his right leg. Coach Dave Groeschner and manager Gabe Kapler came out to check on him, but Webb stayed in the game.
He was still on the mound in the seventh but was raised after a leadoff walk. A homer two runs in front of Leone put Webb on the line, but it was still another very successful day at Oracle Park for the personal ace. Here are his last four starts, all at home, all at pretty big spots:
- Game 162: 7 innings, 4 runs earned, 8 strikeouts (also a homer)
- NLDS Game 1: 7 2/3 innings, 0 runs earned, 10 strikeouts
- NLDS Game 5: 7 innings, 1 run earned, 7 strikeouts
- Opening day: 6 innings, 1 run earned, 3 strikeouts
Webb has now made 23 consecutive starts without a losing decision, breaking Carl Hubbell’s franchise record. Hubbell finished 22nd in a row in 1936-37.
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