San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Chris Heston (53) throws against the Philadelphia Phillies in the first inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif, on Sunday, July 12, 2015. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants’ home opener Thursday afternoon was a gushing oil derrick of good vibes. And quietly, Chris Heston owned the claim.
Heston pitched a 1-2-3 sixth inning and it was well timed, as the Giants finished wiping out their four-run deficit in the bottom half. That meant Heston was the pitcher of record. In his first relief appearance since he was a September call-up in 2014, Heston got the win.
It was a nice reward for Heston, who ranked by any measure as the Giants’ second best starting pitcher last season – he had a 3.14 ERA in his first 20 starts, including a no-hitter, before fading in August and September – yet was asked to make a personal sacrifice and move to a long relief role this season.
“I mean, yeah, that was cool,” Heston said. “Honestly, I’m really just happy to be here. As long as I’m one of the 13 guys on the pitching staff to help the team, I’m a whenever-whatever guy.”
Heston said he enjoyed the experience of watching from the bullpen in Milwaukee, mostly because veterans like Sergio Romo, Javier Lopez and Cory Gearrin never stop talking about the swings hitters are taking and breaking down game situations.
Heston said he’s coming up with a routine to warm up and felt sharp when he took the mound Thursday. He didn’t go back-to-back in the spring, but played catch Friday and said his arm bounced back well. He’s available if needed.
“Just another one of the guys,” he said. “Get out there and get hot.”
Heston remains the first line of defense whenever the Giants need a spot starter, whether because of injury or a doubleheader. In fact, with rain in Friday night’s forecast, it’s not impossible that the Giants could find themselves in the six-games-in-five-days situation in the near future.
Heston said he hasn’t developed a strategy for how to remain stretched out to start while also being ready to pitch in any relief situation that might present itself. But he didn’t imagine it would be difficult.
And no, his teammates did not give him a beer shower after his first win as a reliever.
“They let that slide, and that’s OK,” Heston said. “Because those are really, really cold.”
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As expected, Buster Posey is getting the day off so he can catch Madison Bumgarner in Saturday afternoon’s game. As a result, Bruce Bochy is batting the pitcher ninth instead of eighth for the first time this season.
The lineup for Matt Cain’s first start of the season: CF Span, 2B Panik, RF Pence, 1B Belt, 3B Duffy, SS Crawford, LF Pagan, C Brown, RHP Cain.
The Dodgers: 2B Utley, SS Seager, 3B Turner, 1B Gonzalez, RF Puig, CF Pederson, LF Van Slyke, C Ellis, RHP Stripling.
The Giants lineup isn’t long enough for Angel Pagan to bat ninth when Posey is off. But Bochy reiterated that he likes what he’s seen with the pitcher in the No.8 slot and you’re likely to see it more often than not.
Oh, and before anyone starts whining about “why Posey gets a day off already in just the fifth game of the season” … remember that the Giants played a day game Wednesday in Milwaukee followed by travel and a day home opener Thursday.
Last thought on this topic: with Posey catching, that means either going with Brandon Belt at first base against Clayton Kershaw, whom he’s 3 for 37 against with 21 strikeouts, or starting Trevor Brown or Ehire Adrianza there.
My money’s on Belt getting another chance, since it puts the Giants’ best defense on the field in an extreme pitcher’s duel. Belt has been waiting for this chance. He’s beyond motivated to turn around what has become an extremely one-sided matchup.
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Yes, the Giants really did bunt four times in a game in which they scored 12 runs Thursday. I wonder how often you’d find that combo in a major league game.
Couple notes on those bunts: Pinch hitter Kelby Tomlinson wasn’t sent up there to sacrifice, or otherwise given orders to lay one down. He did it on his own, and beat it out for a single. Bochy recoiled, smiled and gave a look to a reporter who asked the question.
“We’re down four runs,” Bochy said. “I don’t like to bunt when we’re down one.”
Ehire Adrianza, though, most certainly was sent up to bunt in Heston’s spot in the sixth.
Hey Bruce, why not leave that job to the pitcher, especially since it meant burning one of the three players you had left on your bench?
“We just had a pitcher bunt into a double play in Milwaukee,” said Bochy, referring to Jeff Samardzija. “And besides, when you put the pitcher up there, you erase all doubt about what’s going on. They can crash (the infielders) hard and get a double play.”
We saw that almost happen in Milwaukee, too, when Brandon Belt caught Wily Peralta’s bunt and try to double a runner off first base.
Denard Span had the other two bunts. He was on his own in the sixth, when he nearly beat it out and advanced Angel Pagan. His bunt in the eighth, which came after two singles to start the inning, was called. He beat that one out for a single. And then he trotted home on the grand slam by Buster Posey's good friend, Hunter Pence.
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What a debut for Phil Bickford, last year’s first-round pick, who is pitching at Low-A Augusta. The right-hander struck out 10 in 4 2/3 innings, and the only hit he allowed was to the last batter he faced. (It was a two-run double, which was preceded by a walk and a hit batter.)
We should mention that Bickford is competing for Augusta, not at Augusta. Don’t want to give you the wrong idea that he’s in contention for a green jacket. The team is playing in Rome, Ga.
The post Giants pregame notes: A nice reward for Chris Heston, a rest for Buster Posey causes a lineup adjustment, Phil Bickford dominates in Augusta debut appeared first on Giants Extra.