8 Apr 14
Tim Hudson provided the pitching, and Angel Pagan and Brandon Belt led the offense as the San Francisco Giants opened their 57th Season by the Bay (their 132nd over their winning history) with a convincing victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-3.
The home opener always provides a backdrop of unusual interest, and the game has potentially the power to set the tone and the context for the rest of the season. The Giants hope it does. Hudson (2-0) pitched 8 full innings and left to thunderous applause after his 101st pitch with his ERA at 1.15. He scattered 7 hits, allowed 3 runs, one unearned, struck out 4, and walked none. Casilla mopped up in the ninth, keeping his ERA at zero.
Brandon Hicks made the single error of the game.
Pagan, Belt, Morse, and Crawford had 2 hits apiece; Pagan and Morse doubled, and Brandon Belt hit his fifth home run in the season’s first eight games, the first Giant to do that since Jose Cruz, Jr., eleven years ago. The Giants have 47 runs and 12 homers in those eight games.
42,166 passed the turnstiles to watch a very manageable game of 2 hours and 39 minutes in weather that would have been fine for the beach.
After the game, General Manager Brian Sabean announced that negotiations with Pablo Sandoval have been tabled. A wide gulf separates him from the Giants on agreeing to a contract extension.
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