Yankees torpedo Giants with five-run 5th inning

Paul Goldschmidt and Paul Goldschmidt hit the Giants hard, just like old times

The San Francisco Giants knocked out the New York Yankees with a five-run first inning where they knocked out the Yankees starter. The Yankees returned the favor Saturday, knocking out Jordan Hicks during a five-run fifth inning that gave them a TK-TK victory in the Bronx.

Wilmer Flores hit his sixth home run and knocked in all four Giants runs, but the Bronx Bombers and their torpedo bats of doom were too much. Cody Bellinger scored two runs and knocked in a pair, while longtime Giants killer Paul Goldschmidt had two RBIs and Ben Rice hit his fourth homer.

Bellinger got the scoring started with a first-inning triple that was creatively played by Heliot Ramos off the left field wall. That extra base put him in position to score on Goldschmidt’s sac fly.

Flores got the Giants even by knocking home Ramos, who opened the inning with a ground-rule double, with his major-league-lead-tying sixth home run.

Hicks got into trouble in the bottom of the second, walking the bases loaded before getting Aaron Judge to ground out to short. He settled down until the fifth inning, when the wheels came off.

Rice, Judge, and Bellinger all singled, then Goldschmidt bounced a double over the right-field wall to make it 5-2. A walk to Jazz Chisholm ended Hicks’ afternoon, then Anthony Volpe’s sacrifice fly off Randy Rodriguez scored Bellinger and advanced all the Yankees runners one base. That would prove crucial when Jasson Dominguez singled with two out to give the Yankees a five-run lead.

Yankees starter Will Warren yielded after striking out six and giving up two runs in five innings, and the Giants got to Fernando Cruz in the top of the sixth. They loaded the bases with no one out on a single, an error, and a walk, then scored two on Flores’ two-out single.

That gives Flores 19 RBI on the season, second in major league baseball to only Judge.

Ben Rice homered off Lou Trivino, then the Giants finally stopped Bellinger thanks to a diving catch by Mike Yastrzemski that helped Camilo Doval to a perfect eighth inning.

But after Yaz walked and Willy Adames doubled to lead off the ninth, the Giants went meekly against new Yankees closer Devin Williams and the game ended 8-4.

The Giants fell to 8-4 in a game that came down to clutch hitting and a few crucial extra bases taken by the Yankees and given up by the Giants outfielders.

We’ll see a slightly different Giants lineup against their old friend, lefty Carlos Rodon, as he goes up against Logan Webb Sunday. Rodon has never faced the Giants before in his career, and has only faced Matt Chapman (0-for-3, two strikeouts) and Willy Adames (3-for-13, two RBIs) before. Sounds like a perfect opportunity for Wilmer Flores to go deep!