Joc Pederson hit a solo shot for the Giants’ first run of 2023. Later in the inning, Brandon Crawford mashed a two-run bomb to chase Yankees starter Clarke Schmidt.
NEW YORK -- This was more of what the Giants had in mind.
Two days after a lifeless opener, the Giants played the brand of baseball they envisioned when they left Scottsdale a week ago, with the lineup flashing power and the pitching staff showing its depth. Camilo Doval mixed in quite a bit of the franchise's patented ninth-inning torture, but he closed out a 7-5 win over the New York Yankees. The Giants are on the board in 2023.
Trailing 2-0 early, the Giants got loud homers from Joc Pederson and Brandon Crawford in the third to take their first lead of the season. After the Yankees tied it up, the Giants went back on top after a very strange sequence.
With the bases loaded and one out in the sixth, LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a check-swing roller right in front of the plate that brought a run home when two Yankees converged on it and didn't get a throw off. It left his bat at 37 mph.
Two batters later, Thairo Estrada hit a 77 mph flare to short that had some movement on it and fooled rookie Anthony Volpe. His diving attempt came up short and the Giants scored again on their second infield single of the inning.
The strength of the team should be the starting staff and back end of the bullpen, but the unsung heroes on this day pitched in the middle innings. Jakob Junis took over for Alex Cobb and pitched 2 1/3 solid innings. John Brebbia got through the top of the lineup in the seventh.
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Taylor Rogers gave a run back in his debut, but Mike Yastrzemski's double in the top of the ninth highlighted another rally, padding the lead for Doval, who needed it on this day. The young closer's first pitch of the season was an automatic ball because he was slow warming up and it didn't get any smoother.
A single and walk brought Aaron Judge up as the tying run and he smoked an RBI single to left. With the rain again starting to fall, Doval walked Anthony Rizzo to load the bases for Giancarlo Stanton, who jumped ahead right away when Doval was called for a second violation.
Doval made the right pitch at the right time, though, getting Stanton to bounce into a game-ending double play. Here are three more things to know:
Another One Down
Before the game, Crawford exchanged lineup cards with brother-in-law Gerrit Cole. About 90 minutes later, he checked another stadium off a very long list.
Crawford crushed a hanging slider 415 feet into the seats in right-center, giving the Giants a 3-2 lead in the fourth. The homer was Crawford's first against the Yankees, and he now has gone deep against 25 of 29 MLB opponents and also in 25 different ballparks.
The only teams he hasn't hit a homer off are the Red Sox, Royals, Twins and White Sox. The Giants face all four this season and visit Chicago and Minnesota in the first half.
Joc Jam
The lineup was shut out through the first 12 innings of the season and piled up five more strikeouts in the first two innings Saturday before Pederson finally woke up the dugout.
On the 10th pitch of a battle with Yankees right-hander Clarke Schmidt, Pederson hit a stinger into the seats in right-center. The ball left the bat at 111.7 mph and was in the air for just 3.9 seconds (Crawford's more traditional blast had a hang time of 6.1 seconds).
Like Crawford, Pederson has spent his whole career in the National League. The homer was his first at Yankee Stadium and gave him one in 22 different ballparks.
Leaving New York With A Souvenir
Blake Sabol got his first big league hit out of the way in his third at-bat of the season, pushing a bunt the other way and reaching without a throw. Sabol had a big smile on his face as the Giants' dugout had a batboy run out and grab the ball for safekeeping.
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Sabol might be converting to catcher but he's still one of the fastest players on the roster, so the Giants encouraged him all spring to take advantage if defenders are playing back. He later reached two more times when he got hit by pitches and he flied out to the warning track in left in his final at-bat.