Ray goes 5 no-hit innings in 'super special' Giants debut

LOS ANGELES -- Sporting a pair of tight pants in his return from Tommy John surgery Wednesday, Giants left-hander Robbie Ray put the squeeze on the Dodgers.

After being stretched to the limit in a rusty first inning, Ray found his stride in his San Francisco debut and did not allow a hit over five innings in an 8-3 victory over the Dodgers. He threw 86 pitches and ended his night with a 96 mph fastball to strike out Shohei Ohtani and end the fifth inning.

It was a challenging first inning for Ray, who had two walks, two hit batters and two wild pitches to the first five batters of the game as the Dodgers took a 1-0 lead without the aid of a hit. But he settled in from there.

While not comparing his emotions to his Major League debut, Ray said he definitely had some Opening Day vibes as he pitched in front of his wife and two of his children.

“For them to be able to experience it, the long comeback and the support they showed me, there are not words to describe that,” Ray said. “It was just a super special night all the way around.”

Ray was able to take back control of the first inning when he ended the threat by getting Miguel Vargas on a strikeout and setting down Chris Taylor on a groundout. The first three outs required 33 pitches, but the final 12 outs needed just 53 more as he tiptoed just past his 85-pitch limit on the night.

“It was a completely different guy in the second inning,” manager Bob Melvin said. “A lot of times, you’ve been off that long, your adrenaline is pumping pretty quick, you're a little bit ahead of your arm, you’re trying to find your arm slot. Once he got through the first inning he settled in and was really good.”

Ray's five hitless innings gave him the longest no-hit bid by a Giants starter in his team debut in the expansion era (since 1961), and it was the longest in a Giants debut since Juan Marichal went 7 2/3 hitless innings in his Major League debut on July 19, 1960, en route to a one-hit shutout.

Ray’s outing gave the Giants’ offense time to come to life. Matt Chapman hit a home run and drove in two runs. Heliot Ramos and Mike Yastrzemski also had two RBIs each. Ramos had a two-run single in a six-run eighth inning as the Giants put the game away.

Rookie Tyler Fitzgerald saw his five-game home run streak come to an end, but he doubled and scored two runs.

“It’s the name on the back that takes the mound for a game and you just gain confidence from,” Melvin said about Ray inspiring the team. “We’ve been waiting for this for a while and I know he’s pretty pumped up about being in there.”

Helping Ray through his wild ride was catcher Curt Casali, his former teammate for a brief time with the Seattle Mariners.

“You know, sometimes all it takes is one pitch, getting out of that first inning, sitting down, collecting yourself and realizing you made it out of that first inning healthy,” Casali said. “Let's just go play baseball and pitch and that’s what he did. It was really impressive. I’m happy for him and we desperately needed that one tonight.”

The victory was just the second for the Giants in six games since the All-Star break.

The Dodgers didn’t have their first hit until a Taylor double with two outs in the seventh inning against Tyler Rogers.

The Giants led by just a run until scoring six times in the eighth. In addition to Ramos’ two-run single, Yastrzemski, Patrick Bailey, Jorge Soler and Chapman each drove in a run in the inning. The bullpen gave up five hits in four innings.

And it was Ray that supplied the energy for a complete team victory, with his final pitch to Ohtani creating a defining moment of the outing.

“It was ‘Empty the tank, give him my best stuff and whatever happens happens,’” Ray said. “That was probably my last hitter anyway.”

Ray was not the only one to record a signature strikeout against Ohtani. Giants left-hander Erik Miller struck out Ohtani in the eighth inning, his fifth strikeout in five lifetime at-bats against the Dodgers star.

“I’m glad he’s striking him out; it’s tough to do,” Melvin said of Miller. “He’s used his fastball with him, his breaking ball and I think it was his changeup the last pitch. You’re going to have to do different things to get him out. It doesn’t go on forever.”