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Reporting from ORACLE PARK
Mike Yastrzemski blasted his first homer of the season, and San Francisco threatened late but couldn’t quite finish as the Giants settled for a series split Sunday afternoon to the Diamondbacks with a 5-3 defeat at Oracle Park.
Righty Merrill Kelly was originally slated to start for the D-Backs (11-12), but he scratched shortly before first pitch with shoulder discomfort. Slade Cecconi, recently promoted from Triple-A, made the start instead.
This story will be updated with quotes and post-game material from the Giants clubhouse at Oracle Park.
Cecconi, who made his big league debut against the Giants on Aug. 2, 2023, was cruising early and kept the Giants (10-13) hitless through the first 4-2/3 innings. Their first came on Thairo Estrada‘s slow-roller infield hit to third baseman Eugenio Suarez.
Yastrzemski was next, cranking a 3-1 hanging changeup over the right field wall for a go-ahead two-run shot, his first homer of an underwhelming start to 2024 season.
Despite slashing .171/.261/.171 entering Sunday, Yastrzemski’s swings have been more encouraging over the last few games. After striking out 11 times in his first 23 plate appearances of the season, San Francisco’s right fielder has struck out just once in his last 24.
On his first homer of the year, Yastrzemski said:
“It felt great. I was just wanting to get that one off the back and be able to just not think about a whole lot other than trying to win. As much as you try to say things like that don’t affect you, in the back of your mind, they’re always kind of sitting there fluttering so it’s nice to get one.”
The rest of the Giants couldn’t seem to figure out Cecconi. But they weren’t overmatched — in six innings, they struck out just three times.
Yazstresmki’s homer put Giants starter Jordan Hicks in line for the victory. However, young left-hander Erik Miller took over for Hicks in the sixth and allowed a two-run single to catcher Gabriel Moreno to give Arizona a 3-2 lead.
With two away in the ninth, Estrada rapped his second hit of the afternoon to left field for an RBI double, lifting the Giants within two runs at 5-3.
It was an unusual start for Hicks, who battled through spotty command and went deep into counts all afternoon. Though he didn’t yield a hit in the first 3-2/3 innings and only allowed one in five innings, Hicks walked four Arizona hitters and hit two others with pitches.
The constant free baserunners increased Hicks’ pitch count, but the damage and hard contact was relatively limited. The average exit velocity against the right-hander was kept at 83 mph — Blaze Alexander‘s 105.8 mph second inning groundout was the only real hard contact D-Back hitters managed.
Despite multiple opportunities with seemingly always filled bases, Arizona batters couldn’t take full advantage. They did, though, cash in for a run in the second. Following two hit batters and a walk to load the bases, right fielder Jake McCarthy cranked an opposite-field sacrifice fly to make it 1-0.
Hicks’ 96 pitches were the most he’s thrown thus far. Postgame, he said he wasn’t thrilled with the outing:
“Obviously, not a great start. I didn’t really start making the pitches I wanted to make until maybe the fourth and fifth, but obviously the plus side of that is limiting damage. Not giving up a hit and still giving up a run — I think that tells the story for what it was today.”
Manager Bob Melvin and third base coach Matt Williams were ejected in the ninth inning by home-plate umpire Stu Scheurwater after Scheurwater ruled Kevin Newman fouled off Nick Avila‘s 1-2. Giants catcher Patrick Bailey argued Newman didn’t make contact — the replay agreed. Newman subsequently roped an RBI double to left to give Arizona a 5-2 lead.
On his ejection, Melvin said he was arguing partly because of Bailey’s reaction and that he himself didn’t agree, either:
“That’s probably the worst angle you can have, is sitting behind it. So I’m not sure. Typically, they do check from ways away. It looked to me from the naked eye, but I’m not an umpire.”
Following an 0-for-2 afternoon, Jung Hoo Lee‘s 11-game hit streak was snapped on Sunday. The streak was the fourth-longest active streak in the big leagues.
Up Next
The Giants welcome the New York Mets to Oracle Park on Monday to begin a three-game series. Keaton Winn (1-3, 4.09 ERA) will square off against veteran left-hander Jose Quintana (1-1, 3.05 ERA) in the series opener.
Notes
Following Saturday’s victory, the Giants acquired right-hander Mitch White from the Toronto Blue Jays in-exchange for cash considerations. White, 29, is a Bay Area product — a commonality in Giants acquisitions in recent vintage under president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, who coincidentally selected White in the second round in the 2016 draft when he was still holding the general manager position with the Dodgers. The Bellarmine High and Santa Clara University alumni has appeared in 62 big league games across parts of five seasons with the Dodgers and Blue Jays, but has struggled to find consistency. He allowed six runs in ten innings before being designated for assignment by Toronto earlier this week. White is expected to be in San Francisco in the coming days and will likely be used out of the bullpen. To make room for White on the 40-man roster, the Giants transferred veteran righty Alex Cobb to the 60-day injured list as his timetable from offseason hip surgery continues to be prolonged with elbow and shoulder setbacks. He’ll be eligible to be activated on May 27.
