SAN DIEGO — Sunday began with Bob Melvin calling it “an exciting day for us and an exciting day for him,” referring to Giants starting pitcher Daulton Jefferies, who was about to make his return to the mound after a long return trip. of several surgeries on his throwing arm.
Before long, that excitement turned to agony as Giant Easter Sunday turned into a day from hell.
In a 13-4 loss to split the four-game set with the Padres, Jefferies received a brutal return to the big leagues, giving up nine runs (five earned) and two home runs. The onslaught continued against his replacement, Kai-Wei Teng, who needed 40 pitches to finish his first inning in the majors before recovering to go three frames.
To add, well, injury to insult, the Giants also lost one of their most beloved and important players when Wilmer Flores injured his pitching shoulder falling over the railing of the pitch. dugout for first base on the Padres’ second batter of the game. He was diagnosed with a right shoulder contusion.
After playing the final two games, a blowout loss dealt a blow to the momentum that had been built before a big series at Dodger Stadium and with three more games against the Padres on deck when the Giants returned home.
The good news is that the Giants shouldn’t have to wait long for reinforcements for their starting rotation. Blake Snell went four innings in a minor league game Friday, and if he’s ready to enter the rotation for his next round — which lines up for Wednesday’s series finale in Los Angeles — San Francisco wouldn’t have no need for another start.
After impressing with his strike-throwing in spring training, limiting opponents to a 2.25 ERA with a 15:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio, he was decided before the Giants left for San Diego that Jefferies would start his fourth match of the season. although he was only added to the list before the first pitch. (In a corresponding move, former No. 2 overall draft pick Joey Bart was designated for assignment, ending his tenure with the organization.)
Another Cal product, Melvin said he played the Golden Bears fight song for Jefferies when he informed him he made the roster. Both men harken back to their days in Oakland, where Melvin managed Jefferies as a promising prospect before his career was sidetracked by two Tommy John surgeries and thoracic outlet syndrome.
Jefferies had no trouble finding home plate, but the Padres’ hitters — and his own defense — punished him repeatedly.
The Padres scored five runs while bringing eight men to the plate in the first inning, capped by a three-run homer from Luis Campusano, but only one run was charged to Jefferies. Rookie shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald, making his first of the season in place of Nick Ahmed, threw the first ball off a Padre’s bat, allowing leadoff hitter Xander Bogaerts to reach base on a defensive error and extend the inning to bring Campusano to the plate.
All four of the Padres’ runs in the second inning were earned, with Ha-Seong Kim launching another three-run shot into an open window at the Western Metal Supply Co. building in left field that extended San Diego’s lead at 9-0.
Kim threw a changeup up the middle and left without a doubt, while Campusano lifted a fastball that just cleared the short porch in right field, 329 feet. Both homers came on the first throw of the bat.
Padres starter Michael King was equally ineffective, issuing seven walks in four innings, but the Giants failed to capitalize.
With a rally brewing in the fourth, the Giants had two runs and two men on base with one out when Jorge Soler lofted a pitch into shallow left field. Kim, the shortstop, backpedaled but missed the ball, allowing it to fall into the grass, about 40 feet beyond the dirt cut.
Rather than calling it an error or a hit, second base umpire Adam Hamari called an infield fly. The Giants runners advanced to second and third, but Soler was grounded out for the second out of the inning, and the threat was extinguished a batter later when LaMonte Wade Jr. was called out on strikes.
In his first argument with an official from the Giants bench, Melvin voraciously protested the call, to no avail.
The rout ended with the first player to pitch for the Giants this season, Fitzgerald’s reward for his error in the field and his hat trick at the plate.
Notable
Teng made history when he took the mound to start the third inning, becoming the only active Taiwanese player in the majors – the 17th all-time – and the first in Giants history. While he was tagged for three runs on three walks and two hits in his 40-pitch first inning, he settled down to retire six of the next seven batters he faced while recording four outs at bat.
Following
The Giants head back up the coast for a three-game series at Dodger Stadium to close out their first road trip. Keaton Winn is expected to start Monday against left-hander James Paxton, although he is not expected to last more than five innings as he continues to build up his workload after being sidelined to begin spring training .
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