GIANTS POUND BRAVES TO START THE PRE-SEASON
Eternal Baseball
SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants lived up to their namesake on the first day of Spring Training, crushing the Braves and sending a message to the entire National League.
Every Giants player had at least one hit and one run, and seven of the nine had an RBI as a balanced offensive onslaught and Christy Mathewson’s brilliant pitching led San Francisco past (WAY past) Atlanta 10-1 on the opening day of pre-season.
The Giants are expected to be one of the best teams in the National League, and their offensive depth was clearly on display Monday night. Willie McCovey’s first inning groundout plated Willie Mays to start the San Francisco scoring. In the second inning, Bill Terry’s second hit drove in Christy Mathewson and doubled the Giants’ lead to 2-0. In the third, Mel Ott’s line drive homer to right field was followed by a walk to Travis Jackson then a two-run homer from Buster Posey to make it 5-0 Giants.
Tom Glavine took over for Greg Maddux and delivered a clean fourth inning, but the fifth inning went immediately sideways. Barry Bonds led off with a walk and Jeff Kent drove them both in with a line drive two-run homer to left.
It remained 7-0 Giants into the eighth inning. Christy Mathewson was dominant for San Francisco, allowing no runs and only four baserunners in the first seven innings. Atlanta proved him mortal in the eighth, as the Braves strung together three singles to bring Ozzie Albies across home plate for Atlanta’s first run.
Hardly anyone would classify cutting the lead to 7-1 as a “comeback” but the Giants took the threat seriously. Gene Garber came out of the bullpen to replace Tom Glavine and San Francisco was happy to see him. The Giants tacked on three runs on RBI singles from Barry Bonds and Travis Jackson as well as a sacrifice fly from Buster Posey.
Christy Mathewson (1-0) set the Braves down in order to wrap up the 10-1 victory for the Giants. His line was impressive (9 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K) in earning the win, while Greg Maddux took the loss (3 IP, 6 H, 5R/4ER, 3 BB, 2 K). Bill Terry lead the offensive charge for San Francisco, going 5-for-5 with a run, an RBI, and a double.
Tuesday night brings game two of this pre-season opening series. Atlanta sends right-hander Vic Willis to the mound to face San Francisco right-hander Juan Marichal. First pitch from Oracle Park is at 7:05 PM EST.
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