San Francisco—On April 8, 2022, the San Francisco Giants opened the season against the Miami Marlins and celebrated with a thrilling 6-5 victory in the 10th inning. The clear skies and 75-degree weather were perfect for the first home opener in 3 years. Mayor London Breed, Grammy-nominated singer Brian McKnight, and baseball legend Barry Bonds sat together above the 3rd base dugout. The crowd continued to chant “Barry.” They even honored the US Navy Leapfrog Parachute Team.
A sold-out crowd of over 40,000 fans came out to see their beloved Giants raise the NL West banner. They packed every seat and descended in droves upon the local restaurants and bars. Life felt normal in the Bay Area.
Giants’ pitching ace Logan Webb held Miami scoreless for 6th innings. Miami pitcher Sandy Alcantra got into trouble in the 3rd inning. Joey Bart scored the Giants’ first run after a throwing error by Miami 3rd baseman Joey Wendle. Giants’ Darin Ruf got the first RBI of the season by singling to right field and bringing home Bart who had advanced to 2nd on the throwing error.
In the 5th inning, Giants’ Bart scored for the 2nd time by hitting a deep bomb over the left-field wall to provide a 3-0 lead.
In the 7th inning, Logan Webb walked Miami’s lead-off hitter on 4 straight pitches. He exited the mound to a standing ovation and was replaced by Dominic Leone. Leone gave up a 2-run home run to Miami’s Jacob Stallings which made the score 3-2.
Both teams rotated pitchers over the next 2 innings. In the bottom of the 8th, Giants’ Brandon Belt extended the lead to 4-2 with a right-field home run into McCovey Cove.
With a 4-2 lead heading into the 9th inning, Giants called upon reliever Camilo Doval to close the door. Marlins’ Joey Wendel reached 1st on a high bouncing ball over the mound. The Giants should have turned a double play on the next ground ball, but a throwing error by second baseman Slater put a runner on second with 1 out. Stalling singled in a runner and the next batter Jazz Chislom hit a 2-run homer to left. The Marlins now led 5-4 heading into the bottom of the 9th. Giants’ Thairo Estrada saved the day by hitting a home run to send the game into extra innings.
In MLB, a runner starts the inning on second base in extra innings. Both teams had base-running errors in the 10th inning and their respective players were called out while already in scoring position. With 2 outs in the bottom of the 10th, Giants Slater redeemed his previous throwing error by hitting a walk-off double to secure the 6-5 victory. Pitcher Jose Alvarez gets credit for the 1st win of the season for San Francisco. This should be an exciting series.