Righty bats do damage in SF's 1st win

The Giants had planned to unveil their revamped lineup against left-handed pitchers on Opening Day.

Right-handed hitters Austin Slater, Darin Ruf and Donovan Solano were expected to face Clayton Kershaw on Thursday, but the Giants were forced to adjust their plans after the Dodgers’ ace was scratched from his scheduled start due to back tightness.

With left-hander Alex Wood on the mound for the Dodgers on Saturday, the trio finally got their first chance to crack the Giants’ starting lineup. They quickly showed why the Giants will be better equipped to handle southpaws this season.

Slater drew three walks out of the leadoff spot, Ruf and Solano combined for three RBIs, and another lefty masher, Wilmer Flores, homered to help the Giants eke out a 5-4 win over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium, giving first-year manager Gabe Kapler his first victory with San Francisco.

• Box score

Kapler said third-base coach Ron Wotus, the lone holdover from Bruce Bochy’s staff, popped open a bottle of wine and prepared a toast for the team in the clubhouse after the game.

“We were just excited,” starter Logan Webb said. “There's music blaring, just like normal, but with the distancing as well.”

Webb was one of two rookie pitchers who played a key role in helping Kapler notch his milestone win. The 23-year-old yielded one run over four-plus innings in his first start of the season before giving way to lefty Caleb Baragar, who earned his first career win by firing two scoreless innings in his Major League debut.

“It does suck that my family couldn't be here,” said Baragar, who was one of the final additions to the Giants’ player pool earlier this month. “That is kind of the downside of making a debut during all the COVID stuff. But yeah, I don't think it's really hit me yet. I know when I got the news that I was on the team, it took me like a day or two before it really resonated with me. I think it might take me until tomorrow or maybe later tonight when I really finally realize, ‘Hey, that was my debut.’”

Improving their effectiveness against lefties was a clear offseason focus for the Giants, who are expected to embrace more platoons this year. They signed Flores to a two-year, $6 million deal and reunited with veteran Hunter Pence, who posted a 1.015 OPS against southpaws during his All-Star campaign with the Rangers last year.

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Ruf, who spent the last three seasons playing in South Korea, also joined the Giants on a Minor League deal. He said one of the reasons he chose to sign with the Giants was because they played in the National League West, which is home to lefties like Kershaw, Wood and Julio Urías of the Dodgers, Madison Bumgarner and Robbie Ray of the D-backs, Joey Lucchesi of the Padres and Kyle Freeland of the Rockies.

“It was appealing just because I know the division,” Ruf said earlier this month. “I know there are a lot of lefties. I knew I would possibly be able to carve out a role on this team, and I was really excited for that.”

Ruf earned the starting nod at first base on Saturday, marking his first appearance in a Major League game since Oct. 1, 2016, with the Phillies. After Slater led off the first inning with a walk and advanced to second on a groundout by Flores, Ruf put the Giants on the board with an RBI single to right-center field.

The Dodgers tied it on Justin Turner’s RBI double off Webb in the bottom of the first, but the Giants continued to pressure Wood, loading the bases on a double by Mike Yastrzemski and back-to-back walks by Tyler Heineman and Slater in the second. Yastrzemski then scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by Wood, putting the Giants in front for good.

“They have a solid lineup against left-handed pitchers, so it was a little more difficult preparing for them,” Wood said. “I kind of got away from my general plan of how aggressive I am. We threw too much soft stuff early. They had some good at-bats, drawing walks. Overall, just getting away from what I do best in terms of pounding the zone and attacking early. I felt better in the third inning, got back to doing what I like to do.”

San Francisco expanded its lead with a leadoff homer from Flores in the third -- his first with the Giants -- and a two-run double from Solano off Dodgers right-hander Dennis Santana in the fourth.

The Giants will likely roll out a similar lineup against Urías as they go for a split of this four-game series, though they may be without Slater, who departed the game after sustaining a right hip contusion while making an incredible catch on a flyball off the bat of Corey Seager in the sixth.

“We're going to evaluate him tomorrow,” Kapler said. “Right now he's day to day.”

The Giants’ bullpen again looked shaky, but it managed to survive a late rally from Los Angeles. An error by Solano opened the door for the Dodgers to score two unearned runs against left-hander Tony Watson in the eighth, and they pulled within one on Will Smith’s leadoff home run in the ninth, but Trevor Gott came back to retire Max Muncy, Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger to seal the win for the Giants.

"I thought our bullpen did a nice job of holding it together under some tough conditions," Kapler said. "In particular, Gotter did a nice job."