LOS ANGELES — Last Opening Day, Madison Bumgarner rewrote the record books for what a pitcher can do at the plate. On Thursday, Joe Panik and the pitching staff accomplished a few “firsts” as well.
It turns out winning 1-0 at Dodger Stadium on Opening Day is pretty rare. As in, the Giants had never done it before.
The win was their first 1-0 win at Dodger Stadium, period, since Sept. 21, 2008, and the first time they did that with the only run coming on a home run since 1960, per Chuck Nan of SABR. According to Elias, Thursday marked the second time the Giants started a year by shutting out the Dodgers. They also did it 60 years ago in the first ever MLB game played in California.
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Finally, Panik became the second Giants second baseman all-time to provide the only scoring of the game with a solo homer. On Sept. 17, 1968, Ron Hunt led the way with a solo shot off Bob Gibson of the Cardinals.
Panik’s blast off Clayton Kershaw came on a good pitch, one that was pretty far inside. It stunned Kershaw and both dugouts, as it appeared to be headed foul.
“He dropped down a little bit and that thing was running in on my hands, but I guess I got my foot down and was able to get the barrel to it,” Panik said.
The homer gave the Giants a winning record for the first time since Oct. 2, 2016, the last game of that season. They have a share of first for the first time since August 20, 2016.
San Francisco Giants
--- Here are my two stories from last night: On Ty Blach and his lack of fear in a big spot, and Hunter Strickland leading a new-look bullpen through the late innings. And if you want some behind-the-scenes stuff, I posted a lot of videos and photos to my Instagram story: @pavlovicnbcs
--- Minor league rosters are starting to trickle out and Heliot Ramos and Jacob Gonzalez are headed to Low-A Augusta. The Giants usually let prospects play a full season there, but we don’t know how David Bell operates yet, and there’s a chance that one or both of these guys is allowed to move quickly. They talked about that on a recent episode of the Giants Insider Podcast.
--- It got lost in the shuffle last night, but Brandon Belt snapped an 0-for-37 off Kershaw. "I think they got the ball,” manager Bruce Bochy said later. “They tried to get the ball."