Opening Day: Giants Vs. Mariners 4/1/2021

This game was on Opening Day and was the first game either team played in over 6 months. The Giants were coming off of a season where they over performed and were a game away from the playoffs. The Mariners were 2 games out of the playoffs so they also over performed. Some of the players that the Giants acquired over the offseason were Tommy La Stella, Curt Casali, Anthony DeSclafani, and Jake McGee. The Giants also get Buster Posey back this season after he took a year off to raise some twins. The Giants lineup would be Austin Slater (LF) hitting leadoff then Mike Yastrzemski (RF) up second, Donovan Solano (2B) up third, Evan Longoria (3B) hitting cleanup, Brandon Belt (1B) hitting 5th, Wilmer Flores (DH) hitting 6th, Buster Posey (C) hitting 7th, Brandon Crawford (SS) hitting 8th, and finally Mauricio Dubón (CF) hitting 9th. The Mariners lineup would be Mitch Haniger (RF) hitting leadoff, Ty France (DH) hitting 2nd, Kyle Seager (3B) hitting 3rd, Evan White (1B) hitting cleanup, Taylor Trammell (CF) hitting 5th, Dylan Moore (2B) hitting 6th, Jake Fraley (LF) hitting 7th, Tom Murphy (C) hitting 8th, and J.P. Crawford (SS) hitting last. The starting pitchers in this game would be Kevin Gausman for the Giants and Marco Gonzales for the Mariners. This game was the first game of a hopefully exciting season for the Giants. This would likely be a difficult season for the Giants because they are in a division with 2 of the best teams in MLB. The Mariners were the home team in this game meaning the Giants would hit first. For the Giants to win they would need their bullpen to pitch well, hit well as a team, and get walked. For the Mariners to win they needed to find a nice start out of Marco Gonzales, hit well, and get out to an early lead. Would the Giants or the Mariners take home the win on Opening Night? To the game!

The first pitch of the 2021 MLB season was a high ball to Austin Slater. Austin Slater ended up walking on 5 pitches for the first Giants’ at bat of the 2021 season. Mike Yastrzemski ended up striking out on 4 pitches for the Giants’ first out of the season. Donovan Solano then grounded into a 6, 4, 3 double play to end the top of the first inning. Kevin Gausman’s first pitch was a strike to Mitch Hanover. Mitch Haniger then grounded out to Evan Longoria for the Giants’ first recorded out of the season. Ty France was up next and hit a dribbler down the third base line and Kevin Gausman threw him out at 1st. To end the inning Kyle Seager flew out to Mauricio Dubón in center field. Both teams pitched well in the first inning other than the Austin Slater walk. The Giants and Mariners were tied 0-0 after the first inning.

Evan Longoria led off in the second inning with an opposite field home run to give the Giants their first hit, run, and home run of the season. Brandon Belt followed that up with a fly ball to the right field warning track which was caught by Mitch Haniger. Wilmer Flores then lined out to Mitch Haniger for the second out of the inning. Then on his first at bat of the season Buster Posey hit a homer to left field to give the Giants a 2-0 lead. Brandon Crawford then lined out to second baseman Dylan Moore to end the top of the inning. To start the bottom of the inning Evan White flew out to Dubón in center field on the first pitch. The next pitch Taylor Trammell hit a foul ball that was caught by Evan Longoria meaning that Kevin Gausman got 2 outs in 2 pitches. Then Dylan Moore struck out on 3 pitches to end the inning. The Giants played amazingly in the second inning with 2 homers and some great pitching from Kevin Gausman. The Giants led 2-0 after the 2nd inning.

Mauricio Dubón started the 3rd inning by grounding out to Kyle Seager at 3rd base for an out. Austin Slater then came up to bat and hit a blooper that was caught by the second baseman Dylan Moore. Then Mike Yastrzemski popped out on the first pitch to the shortstop J.P. Crawford for the 3rd out. Jake Fraley led off the bottom of the inning with another first pitch out which was a line out to left fielder Austin Slater. Tom Murphy was up next and got on base with an infield hit but after the replay Tom Murphy was called out on a grounder to Brandon Crawford. J.P. Crawford then struck out on 5 pitches to end the inning. Both pitchers pitched very well in the 3rd inning. The Giants were still leading 2-0 after the 3rd inning.

Donovan Solano got the 4th inning to a great start with a single to right field. Evan Longoria then hit a single to right, center field but got gunned down trying to get a double. Donovan Solano ended up advancing to 3rd base on the play. Brandon Belt was up next and he got walked on a full count. After that Wilmer Flores hit a double down the left field line to score Donovan Solano and move Brandon Belt to 3rd. Then Buster Posey hit a chopper to the pitcher Marco Gonzales for an out. No base runners advanced on the play. Brandon Crawford then got the RBI opportunity and he hit a grounder to Marco Gonzales to end the top of the inning. Mitch Haniger led off the bottom of the inning with a pop up to Mike Yastrzemski in right field. Ty France then struck out swinging on 4 pitches for the 2nd out of the inning. Kyle Seager then hit a double to give the Mariners their first hit of the season. Evan White struck out looking to end the inning. The Giants played hit well in the 4th inning but there were also multiple missed opportunities. Kevin Gausman also pitched well other than the double he gave up to Kyle Seager. The Giants were leading 3-0 after the 4th inning.

Mauricio Dubón led off the 5th inning with a fly out to Taylor Trammell in center field. Austin Slater then hit an opposite field home run for the Giants’ third homer of the game. After that Mike Yastrzemski struck out swinging on 4 pitches. Then Donovan Solano hit a double down the left field line. Evan Longoria got intentionally walked to put runners on 1st and 2nd for the Giants. Brandon Belt then hit a single to knock in Donovan Solano and put Evan Longoria on 3rd. To end the inning Wilmer Flores popped out to second baseman Dylan Moore. Taylor Trammell struck out swinging to start the bottom half of the inning for the Mariners. Dylan Moore then hit a liner that Kevin Gausman tipped to Donovan Solano who threw Moore out at first. Jake Fraley then walked on a full count. To end the inning Tom Murphy struck out swinging. The Giants hit well this inning but still had some missed opportunities. Kevin Gausman also had another great inning. The Giants were leading 5-0 after the 5th inning.

The 6th inning started off with a Buster Posey groundout to J.P. Crawford. Brandon Crawford was up next and he grounded out to Evan White who tossed the ball to Marco Gonzales for the second out of the inning. To end the top half of the inning Mauricio Dubón hit a pop up in foul territory that was caught by Kyle Seager. J.P. Crawford led off the bottom of the inning with a fly out to Mike Yastrzemski in right field. For the 2nd out of the inning Mitch Haniger popped out on a full count. Ty France was then walked on a full count. To end the inning Kyle Seager hit a fly ball to the center field warning track but it was caught by Mauricio Dubón. Both teams’ pitchers pitched well in the 6th inning. The Giants were still winning 5-0 after the 6th inning.

The Mariners took out Marco Gonzales and brought in right handed pitcher Casey Sadler. For the first at bat of the inning Casey Sadler struck out Austin Slater on a full count. Sadler then struck out Mike Yastrzemski for the second out of the inning. To end the half inning Donovan Solano hit a fly out to center fielder Taylor Trammell on the warning track. Evan White hit a double down the first base line to start the inning. Taylor Trammell then hit a grounder to Brandon Belt who tossed the ball to Kevin Gausman for the out. Evan White ended up advancing to 3rd on the play. Then Dylan Moore hit a sacrifice fly to score Evan White. That was the Mariners first run of the 2021 season. Kevin Gausman was taken out for Caleb Baragar after the at bat as well. Caleb Baragar started off by walking Jake Fraley. Caleb Baragar bounced back though by striking out Tom Murphy on 3 pitches. Casey Sadler pitched very well in the 7th inning but Kevin Gausman pitched decently and gave up a run. The Giants were still leading 5-1 after the 7th inning.

Casey Sadler was taken out for Will Vest who started off by striking out Evan Longoria on a full count. Brandon Belt then popped out to Dylan Moore in foul territory. Then Wilmer Flores hit a double down the left field line. On a 2-2 count Will Vest threw a wild pitch and Wilmer Flores moved over to third. On the 7th pitch of the at bat Will Vest threw a ball to walk Buster Posey. Brandon Crawford then got an RBI off of an error from J.P. Crawford. Buster Posey advanced to 3rd on the play. To end the half inning Mauricio Dubón flew out to Jake Fraley in left field. Caleb Baragar was taken out for Matt Wisler in between innings. Matt Wisler started off with a leadoff walk to J.P. Crawford. Mitch Haniger followed that up with a single to left field. Ty France then hit a single to center field to knock in J.P. Crawford and move Mitch Haniger to 2nd. Matt Wisler was immediately taken out for Jarlin García. Jarlin García walked Kyle Seager on a full count to load the bases. Jarlin García then struck out Evan White for the first out of the inning. García then walked Taylor Trammell and a run scored. García was taken out for Tyler Rogers after that at bat. On the first pitch Dylan Moore hit a double to knock in 2 runs and advance Taylor Trammell to 3rd. The next at bat Tyler Rogers hit Jake Fraley loading the bases once more. Then Brandon Belt made a throwing error and the Mariners took the lead and Jake Fraley advanced to 3rd. J.P. Crawford popped up a bunt to Brandon Belt for the 2nd out of the inning. To finally end the inning Mitch Haniger flew out to Mauricio Dubón in center field. Will Vest didn’t pitch his best inning giving up 1 run but the Giants’ bullpen pitched atrociously in the 8th inning. The Mariners were leading 7-6 after the 8th inning.

Will Vest was taken out for Rafael Montero in between innings. Alex Dickerson pinch hit for Austin Slater and he pulled a solo homer to right field to tie the game. Mike Yastrzemski batted next and grounded out to J.P. Crawford for the first out of the inning. Then Donovan Solano struck out for the 2nd out of the inning. To end the half inning Evan Longoria struck out. Jake McGee came into the game to replace Tyler Rogers and try to force extra innings. Jake McGee started by making a good impression with the Giants by striking out Ty France. Kyle Seager then grounded out to Brandon Crawford for the second out of the inning. Then Evan White flew out to put the game into extra innings. This was a great inning for the Giants with an Alex Dickerson home run. The Giants and Mariners were tied 7-7 at the end of the 9th inning meaning this game would go to 10 innings.

Anthony Misiewicz was put into the game for Rafael Montero to pitch the 10th inning. Evan Longoria was put on 2nd base for the Giants. Brandon Belt ended up grounding out to J.P. Crawford but Evan Longoria ended up advancing to 3rd on the play. Then Wilmer Flores grounded out to J.P. Crawford but Longoria stayed at 3rd. To end the inning Mitch Haniger made a sliding catch on the right field line. José Álvarez was put in for Jake McGee to pitch the 10th inning. Evan White started the inning at 2nd base. Álvarez started off by walking Taylor Trammell to put runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. Then Dylan Moore walked to load the bases. Jake Fraley then walked to knock in Evan White and win the game for the Mariners. The Mariners won 8-7.

Leo’s Extra Inning: The Mariners won this game led by Dylan Moore who went 1 for 3, with a run scored, 3 RBI, and a walk. Ty France also played well going 1 for 3, with a run scored, a RBI, and a walk. Kyle Seager played well as well going 1 for 3, with a run scored, and a walk. Evan Longoria led the Giants by going 2 for 3 with a home run, and a walk. Donovan Solano followed closely behind going 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored. Buster Posey played well too going 1 for 3 with a homer and a walk. Alex Dickerson and Austin Slater tacked on too with a homer each. Marco Gonzales ended up pitching 6 innings, giving up 8 hits, 5 earned runs, 3 walks, and 3 home runs. The Mariners bullpen as a whole had 4 different pitchers pitch with a combined 4 innings pitched, 1 unearned run given up, 1 earned run given up, 2 hits given up, and 1 walk given up. Kevin Gausman pitched well for the Giants with 6 2/3 innings pitched, 1 earned run given up, and 2 walks given up. The Giants bullpen pitched horrendously with 6 pitchers pitching and a combined 3 hits given up, 2 unearned runs given up, 5 earned runs given up, and 7 walks given up. Ultimately the Giants’ bullpen lost the Giants the game. Overall, this was a disappointing loss on Opening Night for the Giants.