San Francisco Giants open NL West title defense with loss to San Diego Padres

The 2021 regular season was an absolute dream if you are a San Francisco Giants fan. Not only did the Giants make a playoff run, but also the team won the NL West over the heavily favored Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants set a club record with winning 107 games last season. There is a lot of optimism in San Francisco going into this season regardless what other teams in the division did in the offseason. One team to watch out for is the San Diego Padres. Monday evening was the first measure for both teams heading into a NL West matchup.

Starting pitchers on the mound were Alex Wood for the Giants, and Nick Martinez for the Padres. During the month of April in San Francisco, the winds at Oracle Park are very unpredictable. It was apparent in the first 2 innings of the game. San Francisco Giants scored in the bottom of the 2nd when Mauricio Dubon sacrificed a fly ball to left that scored Thairo Estrada to go up 1-0. Starter Alex Wood seemed in complete control of the game by not allowing a run through 3 innings. Going into the top of the 4th inning, Alex Wood had only allowed 1 hit. Wood gave up 3 hits for 1 run in the top of 4th. San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar tied the game with an infield single that scored Manny Machado from third base.

Alex Wood had not only given up more hits, but he allowed the Padres to tie the game. The Padres capitalized on Woods’ mistake in the 5th inning. With the game tied 1-1, Alex Wood pitched a 92 mph sinker that was crushed to left field for a home run by Padres catcher Austin Nola taking a 2-1 lead.

During the next inning, the Giants did not allow a run going into the bottom of the 6th when Manager Gabe Kapler went to his bullpen in Dominic Leone. Giants had an opportunity to tie the game. Joc Pederson reached on a bunt, Brandon Crawford singled, and Thairo Estrada grounded into a double play, but moving Pederson to third base. On a wild pitch, Joc Pederson scored to tie the game 2-2. It proved efficient by the Giants in generating base runners. last long. In the next inning, top of the 7th, the Padres produced 2 hits for 1 run and took the lead 3-2.

On top of the run in the 7th, the Padres tacked on insurance run in the 9th inning. The Giants’ bats proved to have cooled off. San Francisco only produced 3 hits in the final 3 innings with no runs scored. A 2 run game was all that was needed by the Padres as relief pitcher Pierce Johnson had a scoreless inning and Taylor Rogers (twin of Giants Tyler Rogers) tallied 2 strikeouts with no earned runs to save the game.

San Francisco Giants start their defense of the NL West title with a loss. They are now 2-2 in the season and look to bounce back Tuesday night when they send right handed pitcher Alex Cobb vs. Padres veteran Yu Darvish. Giants look to snap Padres’ 4 game winning streak. The final score was San Diego Padres 4, San Francisco Giants 2. Winning Pitcher for the Padres: Steven Wilson (2-0), Losing Pitcher for Giants: Tyler Rogers (0-1), Save (SD): Taylor Rogers (3).