SF Giants squeak by with a 6-5 victory on Opening Day

The SF Giants played a game that mirrored Opening Day last year when they got out to a comfortable lead but the bullpen came in and blew it. The good news is that they were able to make a comeback in front of a sellout crowd against the Miami Marlins on Friday.

SF Giants squeak by with a 6-5 victory on Opening Day

The story of the game should be Logan Webb with how well he pitched. The right-handed hurler completed six innings, giving up one earned run on five hits, one walk, three strikeouts, and 12 ground outs.

Marlins hitters did not make a lot of hard contact against Webb and they were happy to see him depart after six innings. Dominic Leone gave up a two-run homer against the first batter he faced following Webb's outing.

Similarly, Camilo Doval yielded a two-run home run to Jazz Chisholm Jr. The hard-throwing reliever pitched into some bad luck as a pair of runners reached base off of some poor contact. Then, Chisholm blasted a shot to left field to give the Marlins the 5-4 advantage.

Webb's start was fantastic followed by a bullpen blowup. That should have been the story of the game. However, the story really is how the Giants managed to win a game despite how poorly they played.

The offense did its part by giving the Giants an early lead and adding to it as the game progressed. However, there were plenty of miscues on defense and on the bases that might have resulted in a different outcome if San Francisco was playing a better team.

Wilmer Flores and Thairo Estrada each recorded an error. Flores can capably play third base, but there is a noticeable dropoff with the glove when Evan Longoria is out. The 30-year-old infielder committed a fielding error in the second inning and nearly made a second error later in the game on a bad throw that was scooped up by Brandon Belt.

Estrada had a throwing error at a key moment in the ninth inning that allowed Joey Wendle to advance to third base. The young middle infielder made a pair of really nice plays in the game but he had a couple of rough moments as well. Fortunately, he responded by tying the game in the bottom of the ninth by swatting a solo shot to left field.

The defense was messy today and that is likely a product of the shortened spring training. Hopefully, it bounces back quickly.

The Giants also recorded three outs on the bases today. Darin Ruf was picked off at second base by the catcher, Mike Yastrzemski recorded a caught stealing, and Mauricio Dubón had a baserunning gaffe in the 10th inning while serving as the ghost runner.

Despite all of these mistakes, the Giants managed to squeak by with a victory. They did it because of the long ball as they blasted three homers mixed in with some clutch hitting. Austin Slater capped off the victory with a double that plated Ruf. Enjoy Duane Kuiper's call: