San Francisco Giants Begin Season with Bang on Walk-Off Homer

The San Francisco Giants nabbed their first victory of the new season in Friday’s Cactus League opener by defeating the Cincinnati Reds after falling behind 4-3.

The Giants came back with a walk-off home run by Chris Marrero.

Madison Bumgarner opened the Cactus League, but he had a rocky start. Bumgarner threw 24 pitches and he gave up a pair of runs with two hits and a walk in the first inning. Despite his start, Bumgarner wanted to face the hitters this spring training.

“I thought it’d be good to get out there and get my feet wet,” said Bumgarner.

Manager Bruce Bochy thought it would be a good idea to start Hunter Pence slow during Spring Training. Bochy didn’t add him in today’s lineup, but Pence being Pence insisted to play in today’s game. Pence gave the Giants the first score by a line drive double off Reds prospect Rookie Davis into center field in the first inning.

One pitcher to look out for is Clayton Blackburn. While everyone is raving about Tyler Beede and Ty Blach, Blackburn wanted to make his mark. He had a sensational outing with two shutout innings and striking out three.

Buster Posey didn’t start in the opener, however, Giants new backup catcher, veteran Nick Hundley, took over and was impressive when Bumgarner throw a curveball into the ground by blocking it to prevent the runner from scoring another run.

However, the biggest story would have to be at the bottom of the ninth inning. The Giants came from behind to beat the Reds on a 3-run walk-off home run by Marrero. The 28-year-old is a former first round pick and hit 23 homers in the Boston’s Red Sox Triple-A last year. Marrero hasn’t played since 2013 with the Washington Nationals.

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The Giants next game will be on Saturday against the World Series champion Chicago Cubs.