The San Francisco Giants take on the San Diego Padres today at 345EST in a rubber game between these two rivals. The Padres won Game 1 of this series before the Giants blew out the Padres in Game 2 of the series last night. Last night’s game didn’t finish without some fireworks though.
The Giants were already up 10-1 by the second inning, when Steven Duggar stole second base. Then, in the 6th inning with the score just as lopsided, Mauricio Dubon bunted for a hit. The Padres took exception to both these plays and let everybody know. If you remember correctly, Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a Grand Slam on a 3-0 pitch a couple years back against the Rangers, but the “unwritten rules” didn’t seem to be bother them then? I think the unwritten rules are ridiculous, especially when a team apparently doesn’t care about them two years ago but cares about them now. Its hypocritical, honestly. And just when you thought that wasn’t enough action for one game, Antoan Richardson, the Giants 1st base coach, was ejected from the game after an argument with Padres’ Mike Shildt. Alyssa Nakken took over at first base as the first female on-field coach in MLB history. In what was overall one of the weirder games of 2022, at least there is a silver lining there.
Now that we got the backstory out of the way, let’s get into today’s game. I think because of last night’s antics, both teams will be extremely focused on winning the series today. Logan Webb will get the start for the Giants, and he has been absolutely dominant at home the past two seasons. In 2021, he was 6-0 with a 1.96 ERA at home and he pitched 6 innings allowing just 1 ER in his first start this season. Sean Manaea didn’t allow a hit in 7 IP in his Padres debut last start, but this Giants lineup finally broke out yesterday and is much tougher than the Marlins. He also faced the Giants twice last season, pitching very well the first time but not so much the second time.
The Giants were 54-27 at home last season and they were 6-4 against the Padres at home. The Padres were just 34-47 on the road last season and they are still missing many key players including Fernando Tatis Jr. The Giants bullpen is also much better than the Padres and they were able to save all their best arms with the blowout yesterday. Take the Giants at home.
