Giants roll out tandem start to rave reviews

NEW YORK -- The Giants knew their starting-pitching depth would be one of their biggest strengths heading into the 2023 campaign. It took all of two games for that advantage to begin to bear fruit.

Right-handers Alex Cobb and Jakob Junis combined to allow three runs (two earned) over six innings as San Francisco defeated the Yankees, 7-5, to secure its first win of the regular season on Saturday at Yankee Stadium.

With seven capable starters on their 26-man roster, the Giants had discussed the possibility of having some of their veterans make tandem starts to help spread out pitchers’ workloads at the beginning of the season. That scenario played out on Saturday, with Cobb and Junis offering the first glimpse at one possible configuration for San Francisco.

Cobb, who wasn’t fully stretched out after missing time with a left knee bruise this spring, grinded through a 38-pitch first inning and got into the fourth before passing the baton to Junis, who fired 2 1/3 innings after entering the game in relief.

“I think the biggest deciding factor of the game tonight was Junis doing what he did,” Cobb said. “There were moments where we all bent and it could have gotten out of hand and we could have cashed in on another run or two, and we kind of stepped up and limited the damage.”

After being shut out in Thursday’s Opening Day loss, the Giants’ offense came alive for 12 hits, including a pair of fourth-inning home runs from Joc Pederson and Brandon Crawford. LaMonte Wade Jr. knocked in the go-ahead run with a check-swing tapper in the sixth, while Rule 5 Draft pick Blake Sabol laid down a bunt single for his first career Major League hit in the second.

The Yankees pulled to within one on Josh Donaldson’s solo shot off new left-hander Taylor Rogers, but the Giants scored a pair of insurance runs in the ninth on RBI hits from Mike Yastrzemski and Crawford, who went 3-for-5, drove in three runs and stole a base.

“It was a good day,” Crawford cracked. “My best game of the year so far.”

An ominous scene unfolded in the bottom of the ninth, when the Yankees mounted a last-ditch rally against closer Camilo Doval as rain clouds began to swirl overhead in the Bronx. Doval, who was called for two pitch-timer violations, gave up an RBI single to Aaron Judge and then walked Anthony Rizzo to load the bases with one out, but he managed to escape the jam by inducing a game-ending double play from Giancarlo Stanton.

Cobb, 35, is expected to serve as the Giants’ No. 2 starter this season and fill the void left by All-Star left-hander Carlos Rodón, but his status for Saturday had been a little iffy after he took a hard-hit comebacker off his left knee during a Spring Training start on March 11. He was cleared to make his scheduled start after throwing four innings in a backfield game on Monday, though the Giants knew he wouldn’t be able to offer a full slate against the Yankees.

Cobb said his knee didn’t hamper him much on the mound, though his stamina was tested in the first after he threw a potential inning-ending double-play ball into center field, allowing the Yankees to score an unearned run and seize a quick 1-0 lead.

“It was a self-inflicted wound there,” Cobb said. “I should have taken my time, but I was probably a little amped up with it being the first outing and being away from the mound for a little bit. Pretty frustrating moment there for myself.”

Cobb struck out six and allowed two runs (one earned) over 3 2/3 innings before departing after throwing 76 pitches. He was replaced by Junis, who flashed an uptick in velocity while helping the Giants get through the middle innings. The 30-year-old swingman leaned primarily on his trademark slider, which averaged 85.3 mph, up from 83.1 mph in 2022.

Junis was charged with one run on three hits, though he caught a bad break after Yastrzemski seemed to lose DJ LeMahieu’s fly ball in the sun, allowing it to drop for a leadoff double in the fifth. LeMahieu scored on Rizzo’s subsequent RBI single, but Junis limited the damage by retiring Stanton, Donaldson and Gleyber Torres to end the inning.

“That’s exactly how we planned on using Junis,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “A right-handed pitcher who has a slider as their weapon. You want to extend Junis as much as you can. As a result, we’ll continue to have a fresh bullpen if we see that regularly.”