Before Saturday's game, Giants manager Gabe Kapler was asked a few questions about an upcoming series with the San Diego Padres. Kapler preferred not to bite, saying the Giants had a huge game to play a few hours later against the Mariners and that's where his focus was.
The Giants might not want to talk about it, but with the exception of some time in San Diego, the early schedule lines up really nicely. So far, they haven't taken advantage.
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The lineup fell flat and Logan Webb couldn't match his spring brilliance, leading to a 4-0 loss to the Mariners. The Giants (1-2) lost their first series of the year, blowing a big lead in one game and failing to score in the other loss.
Here are three things to know from the series finale in Seattle ...
Double Trouble
Logan Webb worked out of trouble in the first and had allowed just one run over his first three innings, but the Mariners opened the fourth with three consecutive doubles as Webb had trouble keeping his repertoire down in the zone. All three doubles came on changeups, which had to be particularly disappointing given Webb's mastery of the pitch this spring got him into the rotation.
San Francisco Giants
Webb entered the spring as the sixth man in the rotation race but was the best starter in camp. That didn't carry over to his season debut. In 5 1/3 innings, Webb was charged with three earned on seven hits and three walks. He struck out five.
Up-and-Down Pen
There was good news out of the bullpen, but also a rough season debut. Matt Wisler shook off his ugly performance Thursday, striking out both batters he faced in the sixth to strand two of Webb's runners. The Slider King threw nine of them during his 10-pitch appearance, getting eight strikes, including four swinging strikes.
Wisler was followed by Reyes Moronta, who was making his first big league appearance since hurting his shoulder late in the 2019 season. Moronta hung a fastball to the first batter he faced and gave up a solo homer. The rest of the outing was uneventful. Moronta hit 95 mph, but averaged 94.1 with his fastball, down quite a bit from 2019 (97.2).
Jose Alvarez, who walked all three batters he faced Thursday, pitched a scoreless eighth.
Missed Opportunity
The lineup sat most of the night out, but a couple of infield singles -- including Mike Yastrzemski's first hit of the year -- got them going in the top of the eighth. But Darin Ruf pinch-hit for Brandon Belt and popped up, and Evan Longoria grounded out sharply to short to end the threat.
The Giants were shut out just twice in nine-inning games last season.