Many moons ago during his last start at AT&T Park, Matt Moore pitched what was arguably the game of his life, tossing eight innings of one-run ball before handing a three-run off to his bullpen.
That chapter of Giants baseball, of course, ended with the Chicago Cubs scoring four unanswered runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat San Francisco by a score of 6-5, exposing the team’s shaky bullpen with the entire baseball world watching before allowing the eventual World Series champions to celebrate on their home turf.
This time around, instead of instilling blind faith into a pseudo-closer by committee, Moore and the rest of the Giants put their faith in Mark Melancon to protect a three-run home lead, and with thousands of eyes from a sell out Opening Day crowd watching with faith and a bit of skepticism, San Francisco’s newest closer shut the door on the Arizona Diamondbacks, securing a 4-1 win.
Before engaging in the collective effervescence of cheering on their team’s first win of the season, fans, coaches, and players alike held their breath as a Taijuan Walker fastball got away and plunked Buster Posey on the side of the helmet, immediately sending him to the ground.
The sound of a 94 MPH heater connecting with Posey’s matte helmet rang throughout the stadium, as did the gasps and subsequent boos directed at Walker for damaging San Francisco’s gem of a catcher. When Walker retired Brandon Crawford to end the inning, the 40,000+ in attendance did not hesitate to voice their displeasure.
The Giants ultimately got their retribution not by going after a Diamondback, albeit Moore did hit David Peralta to leadoff the eighth, but from a Matt Moore swinging bunt with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth.
With the help of two Diamondback errors in the span of approximately twelve seconds and some heads-up baserunning from Joe Panik and Jarrett Parker, especially the latter, the Giants took a 3-0 lead, a lead which they would protect on route to their second win in many hours.
Walker clearly did not intend to plunk Posey in the noggin and appeared to tense up as the fastball was halfway to home plate. The former-Mariner dealt with control issues all game long, brushing Jarrett Parker and Joe Panik with a bit of chin music as well.