Giants can't stop relentless Yankees in marquee season opener

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Tony Vitello era isn’t off to the start the Giants envisioned.

The Giants were shut out by the Yankees, 7-0, in their Opening Night matchup at Oracle Park on Wednesday night, a deflating end to a day that began with a glitzy on-field production from Netflix.

Vitello, who became the 40th manager in Giants history after he was hired out of the University of Tennessee in October, led his new club onto the field by stepping out of a cable car during pregame introductions, drawing a nice ovation from the sellout crowd in attendance.

The Yankees jogged out between a pair of yellow taxi cabs that were parked in front of the visiting dugout, a fitting entrance considering they ended up speeding away with the game.

“This is a half-painful, half-easy press conference to do because it was pretty straight up,” Vitello said afterward. “Whichever phase you pick out, we just weren't as good as we're capable of being tonight. And they played well. So it worked out the way that it did.”

Giants ace Logan Webb kicked off his fifth consecutive Opening Day start with a 1-2-3 first inning, but he was tagged for five runs in a sloppy second. It was the most runs he’d allowed in a single inning since July 22, 2023.

“It just sucks,” Webb said. “I put our team in the position that we were in. The first inning was great. The second inning, I get the guy to ground out on the first pitch of the inning. And then all hell broke loose. That’s on me.”

Webb gave up a one-out single and then hit a batter to put a pair of runners on for José Caballero, who put the Yankees on the board with an RBI single to left field. The Giants had a chance to tag out Caballero advancing to second base after shortstop Willy Adames received a throw from Heliot Ramos and quickly fired to second, but his throw sailed wide of Luis Arraez, putting two runners in scoring position.

“We had a couple opportunities to get outs,” Vitello said. “I think the one that you’d like to have back is the throw into second on the ball down the line. You get an out there, maybe it makes a difference.”

Ryan McMahon then followed with a bouncer up the middle that got past Arraez, bringing in two more runs and extending the Yankees’ lead to 3-0.

“He hit it in a good spot,” Arraez said. “I was playing him to pull, and he hit it to the middle. I couldn’t do anything.”

Trent Grisham kept the rally going with a two-run triple before Webb finally struck out Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger to end the inning.

Webb surrendered another pair of runs in the fifth and departed after allowing seven runs (six earned) with seven strikeouts over five innings. He collected his 1,000th career K when he punched out Judge again to end the top of the fourth, but it was little consolation for the 29-year-old right-hander.

“They just started kind of ambushing,” Webb said. “I threw all the pitches I wanted to throw. Not necessarily where I wanted to throw. They did a good job. I did a bad job.”

The Giants’ offense couldn’t pick him up, mustering only two hits against Yankees left-hander Max Fried, who earned the win after working 6 1/3 innings.

San Francisco’s best scoring opportunity came in the first, when the club put runners on the corners with one out after Arraez drew a leadoff walk and Rafael Devers reached on a bloop single. Still, the Giants couldn’t capitalize on the early momentum, as Fried subsequently struck out Willy Adames and coaxed a groundout from Jung Hoo Lee to end the inning.

“You feel good in Spring Training and then you come out and you don’t score any runs,” third baseman Matt Chapman said. “That’s just baseball sometimes. I’m not putting too much stock into it. We have a really good group. It was the first game of the year. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way.

“There was a lot of energy at the beginning of the game. It was fun to be out here, fun to be back. Not the way we drew it up, but we’ve got 161 left.”

The Giants will enjoy an off-day on Thursday before handing the ball to All-Star left-hander Robbie Ray, who will match up with Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler in the second game of the series on Friday.

“You’ve got the ultimate gruntmaster out there,” Vitello said. “It'll be good for Robbie to have an opportunity for a punch-back game for us.”