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Reporting from ORACLE PARK
When the Giants inked Jordan Hicks to a four-year, $44 million offseason deal to become a starter for the first time, they were committing to an idea — a project.
No hypothesis could have predicted a better first month of the season, and Hicks once again dominated on the mound Saturday evening. This time, he carved through the Pirates for six innings before a pair of home runs in the tenth lifted Pittsburgh past the Giants, 4-3.
This story will be updated with quotes and post-game material from the Giants clubhouse at Oracle Park.
Coming off an unimpressive start against Arizona, Hicks completely overmatched the Pirates lineup. In six scoreless innings, the right-hander allowed five hits — only two came off the bat harder than 90 mph — while striking out nine and recording eight ground ball outs.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe transition from bullpen to rotation has been unexpectedly seamless for Hicks, who entered Saturday with some of the best marks for qualified starting pitchers, including his 1.61 ERA, the eighth-best in the big leagues and fifth-best in the National League.
Hicks struck out the side in the first, setting down Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen, Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan Hayes on 15 pitches.
Hicks has found success with a steady diet of hard sinkers that have helped produce a 55.8% ground ball rate, the seventh-highest in the game. It only continued to rise, as four of the next six batters were retired with groundouts, including a 4-6-3 double play in the third to scratch away a leadoff single.
In the sixth, Alika Williams singled to left to start the frame, but nothing came of it as Hicks tied up McCutchen into rolling a hard sinker over into a 6-4-3 twin killing.
The Giants rotation is, for the most part, ground ball heavy. Given the strong percentage of turning ground balls into outs, they have previously expressed comfort in pitching with men on base. This is only amplified with Matt Chapman and Nick Ahmed making up a much-improved left side of the infield.
Despite walking a season-high four hitters last Sunday against Arizona, Hicks was allowed to stretch out to a career-high 96 pitches. Any command issues Saturday certainly weren’t evident, as Hicks didn’t allow a single free pass. He finished the night with 88 pitches.
Hicks worked into the seventh inning, but was pulled after yielding a leadoff single to Connor Joe. Righty Luke Jackson was called upon to escape the jam, but the Pirates eventually ended up tying the game thanks to Rowdy Tellez‘s opposite-field sacrifice fly.
Despite a few minor opportunities, San Francisco’s offense provided no run support for Hicks early. Pittsburgh veteran southpaw Martin Perez was nickel and diming, working in and out of traffic to put zeros on the board through the first five innings. It wasn’t until Wilmer Flores‘ sixth inning RBI double in the left-center field gap opened up the scoring to put the Giants up 1-0.
The Giants spoiled Hicks’ outstanding pitching by failing to accumulate anything substantial offensively. It was knotted up at 1-1 heading into extra innings until lefty Taylor Rogers surrendered back-to-back homers to Reynolds and Hayes.
Rogers hasn’t been able to find a groove in ten games this season — his exact role hasn’t been defined much, either. The Giants haven’t been able to find him an established role, leaving him as an option in a variety of different situations.
Jorge Soler, who hasn’t gotten going offensively this season, responded in the bottom of the inning by cranking a batting practice fastball halfway up the left field bleachers off closer David Bednar for a two-run blast to make it a one-run game at 4-3. The ball left his bat at a screeching 109.8 mph and traveled an illustrious 433 feet.
Soler’s plate appearances were encouraging, though. In his first at-bat, he ripped a 103.2 mph lineout to center and worked a nine-pitch walk in his second.
Up Next
Pirates rookie righty Jared Jones (2-2, 2.79 ERA) squares off against San Francisco righty Keaton Winn (2-3, 3.54 ERA) in the series finale at Oracle Park. Winn has allowed just four runs across his last three outings.
Notes
An MRI on Alex Cobb‘s right shoulder was positive, the right-hander told reporters before Saturday’s matchup. He’s hopeful the discomfort will subside quickly. He’s eligible to return from the injured list on May 27.
