SAN DIEGO -- The Giants checked off several key firsts in Monday night’s series opener against the Padres at Petco Park.
They got their first home run of the season. They got their first quality start. And most importantly, they got their first win.
Harrison Bader opened the scoring with a third-inning solo home run, and right-hander Landen Roupp struck out seven over six scoreless innings to spark a 3-2 victory for the Giants, who snapped their three-game skid and notched their first win under new manager Tony Vitello.
San Francisco turned a three-run lead over to Ryan Walker in the bottom of the ninth, though the veteran right-hander issued a four-pitch leadoff walk to Jake Cronenworth and then surrendered a two-out, two-run homer to Jackson Merrill that brought the Padres within one.
Still, Walker managed to coax a groundout from Xander Bogaerts to end the game and pick up his first save of the season.
The Giants scored only one run while being swept by the Yankees at home last week and entered Monday as the only team in the Majors without a home run in 2026, but Bader finally got them on the board in the third.
Bader pumped his fist after crushing a hanging curveball from Padres starter Walker Buehler out to left field for his first home run for San Francisco, which signed the Gold Glove-winning center fielder to a two-year, $20.5 million deal over the offseason. Bader’s shot traveled a Statcast-projected 408 feet and gave the Giants their first lead of the year.
San Francisco added on behind back-to-back RBI singles from Patrick Bailey and Casey Schmitt in the fourth, and Roupp took care of the rest. The 27-year-old right-hander allowed only two hits and two walks in his first start of the year, which happened to come at the same place where he suffered his season-ending left knee injury in 2025.
Roupp was carted off the field after spraining his left knee here last August, but he managed to strut off the mound after inducing a 1-4-3 double play from Padres star Manny Machado to cap his 88-pitch gem on Monday.
Matt Gage and Keaton Winn came in after Roupp and delivered a scoreless inning apiece, with Winn striking out the side in a dominant eighth inning.