Win #1

Matt Chapman’s 2-homer, 5 RBI night powered a resounding team win.

Things started to make a little more sense in the San Francisco Giants’ universe on Friday night with their debut win of the season.

Clear of the distraction of Opening Day and the annoying dinks and doinks that muddled it, the offseason pursuits and roster decisions and all their whys became abundantly plain. Not vindicated—no, too early for that—but there was a moment when the curtain was parted, a possible future revealed, and we all got a peek.

Matt Chapman’s 9th inning 2-run homer that appeared to still be rising when it hit the top balcony of left field’s Western Metal Supply building—his closing remarks to a 3-for-5 night with 2 homers, 3 runs scored, and 5 RBIs.

Ah, of course, this is what we were after.

We knew that the third baseman could hit a baseball hard, but visual evidence was thin in terms of doing it with San Francisco printed on his chest, and could he hit a baseball hard away from the opposing defense? These were the concerns, and as far as last night goes, the evidence is that Chapman can, and dare I say it, just might continue to do so.

His homer in the 9th topped an exit velocity of 111 MPH. The two-out RBI double in the 7th was scorched at 107 MPH into the notch of Petco Park outfield in left-center, turning a dicey 4-2 lead into a much more amenable 5-2 lead. His 2-run homer in the 1st against San Diego starter Joe Musgrove left his bat at 104 MPH, his hands able to get in on a middle-in fastball and muscle over the wall in center for an early San Francisco lead that they never surrendered.

Chapman’s proper introduction to the fans was the stand-out ah-ha moment of last night’s win… but there were others.

Nick Ahmed’s thunderous bat took a break after yesterday, but we saw again the veteran poise of the shortstop on some clutch double-plays turned. Trouble was heating up for Tyler Rogers in the 7th when Fernando Tatis yanked a pitch over the wall to put the Padres back within 3, Jake Cronenworth then hit, and Manny Machado with significant ownage of Rogers in the box. Thairo Estrada snared Machado’s 108 MPH grounder and Ahmed delivered the patient relay onto first turned the stove off on the home crowd near-boil. In the 9th too he adapted to an odd defensive alignment and turned a rare 5 – 6 – 3 double play, delivering a strong accurate throw off his wrong foot.

Jorge Soler started his night still hitless as a Giant. As his teammates rallied, he was the rally killer, grounding into two double-plays in his first two plate appearances. Then came his first hit: a double in the 7th off reliever Stephen Kolek that split the gap between center and right.

Two strikes, knee-high sweeper on the outer-third—Soler didn’t try to do too much with the pitch, and he still smoked it. Not showy power, not like his homer back in 2021 in Houston, but an easy drive that you could tell brought a bit of relief to the new DH.

Then of course, there’s Jung Hoo Lee. The centerfielder recorded his first multi-hit game of his career. He bagged his second RBI in the 4th, getting the barrel of his bat up to the top of the zone to push a Musgrove fastball past the dive of his friend Ha-Seong Kim.

A grace period for the young KBO star was anticipated, some of us expecting Lee—like Kim—to take a year to adapt to big league pitching. Early days, early days…but in just these first two games, it appears Lee is the only individual of the fallen race of man that does not need grace. He not only looks like he’s in midseason form but like he’s been hitting MLB pitching for years now.

Back to that dinky single. No outs, two runners on—how often have fans in recent memory seen a fledgling rally peter out and die at the hands of the silent killer. Whiff after whiff leading to strikeout leading to an unproductive out leading to an opportunity lost. And look at what he was up against. Musgrove had just shown him two breaking balls, pitches Lee didn’t get to see during his first ups. The second pitch slider dropped in on his knees, and then Musgrove dotted a fastball at the opposite pole of a compass. South to North, breaking ball to fastball and…Lee was on it. Not blistering by any means, but a ball in play that found a hole.

Yes, Lee can hit a baseball and a Major League one at that—but it wasn’t until this broadcast transition that a generation of Hooligans were born.

It wasn’t just the new flowers of the Giants unfurling their petals. The old heads too seem ready to bloom in the light of the new day, a new era.

LaMonte Wade Jr. in the 3-spot kept the 1st inning alive with a two-out single that led to Chapman’s opening drive. Later that inning, Estrada tacked on a third run with a nice opposite field single. Wilmer Flores notched his first hit and RBI of the single in the 7th, and Patrick Bailey went 2-for-3 with a walk. The whole lineup put the ball in play even when behind the count. Musgrove only managed 3 K’s, and all of them came in the 5th inning or later.

Rookie starter Kyle Harrison impressed most of all in his first Opening Week. Even with the rotation additions heavy with Cy Young clout, the expectations have been high for the top prospect southpaw.

He seemed unfazed from the start, K-ing Xander Bogaerts with a zippy 94 MPH fastball located perfectly just above the letters. Two batters later, Harrison got Machado with the exact same pitch, stranding Cronenworth at second.

He’d only need 76 pitches to get through 6 innings, scattering 6 hits, striking out 5 without issuing a single walk. The two runs came at the hands of notorious bats Tatis and Machado—but for all the crush they put into Harrison’s offerings, the damage was minimal thanks to the limited traffic on the base paths.

The only base runner to reach second was Cronenworth’s double in the first (Eguy Rosario doubled on a Wade bobble in right to lead off the 5th but was thrown out trying to push his luck into a triple). Oddly, it was the lefty bats that gave Harrison the most guff last season. That narrative seemed to persist when his slurve didn’t slide off the plate and Cronenworth punished the mistake into right. Harrison redeemed himself against the first baseman though with a perfectly dotted fastball away for a called strike-3 in the 4th.

Other thoughts/things of note:

Landon Roupp debuted in relief with a scoreless 7th inning.

Our beloved Tyler Rogers premiered and continues to courageously throw wiffle balls to Major Leaguers. A solo home run, hit batter, and an inning ending double play — classic outing.

Curious to see if Chapman’s offensive outburst will move him up in the lineup. He was batting cleanup the first two games with Soler in the second spot. It might be too early to tinker, but if Lee continues to reach base and Chapman continues to drive the ball, I could see a swap there.

And the clubhouse vibes right now…new season, new opportunities, new/old leadership, but who it is matters.

Bob Melvin appears to be the gift that keeps on giving.