What we learned as Giants take series from Padres in extras

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Because there was no Bay Bridge Series this year, the Giants flew straight from Phoenix to Seattle at the end of the spring and haven't been home since early February. Their first flight to San Francisco will be a happy one after a 3-2 extra-innings win over the Padres that clinched a series victory.

The bullpen blew it in the eighth inning of the trip's first game and again during the last game, but this time it was just a one-run lead that disappeared. Tyler Rogers came in with a 2-1 lead and got two outs before Wil Myers took him deep to left. The homer was Myers' 21st against the Giants. 

The Giants got a free runner on second in the top of the 10th and Alex Dickerson went to third on a fly ball and scored the go-ahead run on another. Wandy Peralta came on for the bottom of the inning and inherited speedster Jurickson Profar on second. He got a grounder, strikeout and flyout to clinch his first career save. 

Here are three things to know about the third game in San Diego: 

Battle of Aces

Kevin Gausman vs. Blake Snell was the best matchup on this road trip, and it lived up to the hype. Gausman allowed just one run over seven innings and struck out five. Snell, as he often does, ran a high pitch count and lasted just five innings, but he allowed just two hits and struck out eight. 

While Snell was at 77 pitches through four, Gausman was at an economical 47, and that allowed him to take a lead through seven. Gausman ran into some trouble with two outs in the sixth when Manny Machado reached on an error and Eric Hosmer singled, but he got ahead of 22-year-old Luis Campusano with a couple of nasty splitters and then put him away with 97 mph on the inside corner. 

Gausman made two starts on this road trip, allowing two runs in 13 2/3 innings and striking out 11. He gave up just six total hits. The Giants have their ace

Not a Ruf Day

Well, it was for center fielder Jorge Mateo, but that only benefited Darin Ruf. He got his second homer of the year when Mateo couldn't come down with a deep fly ball to center, instead knocking it over the wall as he tried to make a leaping grab.

Ruf added a stolen base and a single and nearly put another one into the gap in the eighth. He's having really good plate appearances to start the year, and looks likely to keep getting starts against left-handed pitching. 

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The Go Go Giants

The Giants stole about a base per game in spring training, but it didn't seem sustainable. Manager Gabe Kapler even admitted it was something they were pushing in the Cactus League just to learn to run the bases better, but that he didn't expect to be a base-swiping team. Kapler did, however, want the Giants to be opportunistic, and on this first road trip they were. 

Ruf had two stolen bases in 329 previous big league games, but Snell wasn't watching him in the fourth and Ruf alertly snagged second. Austin Slater did the same earlier in the game. The Giants were 5-for-5 on the bases on this road trip, with one of them being Donovan Solano's first stolen base in seven years. 

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