The San Francisco Giants had just four runs and 19 hits over the first four games of the season.
Then Willy Adames belted the second pitch of Game No. 5 over the fence in left, and it ignited a splurge of runs and hits. The Giants will look for another torrid offensive display when they close a three-game series against the host San Diego Padres on Wednesday afternoon.
San Francisco’s freezer-cold bats quickly melted into shape during Tuesday’s 9-3 victory. The Giants nearly matched the hit total over four games with 16 against San Diego pitchers on Tuesday.
Adames had four hits and two RBIs, but it was the leadoff homer that barely cleared the fence that stood as the cue that the bats were awakening.
“Honestly, just trying to take a good at-bat for the boys just to set the tone for the team,” Adames said. “Obviously, when you get a result like that, you’re going to be happy, especially to start the game. That sent a really good message to the boys to come in hot.”
That marked the 12th time Adames had a career-best four hits in a game. Jung Hoo Lee had three hits and three RBIs and Matt Chapman added a solo homer as part of the San Francisco assault.
“So far it’s five games, it’s a small sample size,” Giants first-year manager Tony Vitello said. “If you’re a good athlete and you just compete all nine innings every day, the game will tell you what you are. You will end up where you’re supposed to be.”
San Diego also has struggled offensively while losing four of its first five games. The Padres are tied for next-to-last in the majors with 12 runs and have yet to score more than three in a game.
That made the task tough when San Francisco scored three in the first frame on Tuesday.
“It’s always tough when you get down early,” San Diego first-year manager Craig Stammen said, “especially in that first inning where you get in the dugout and you’re already down three.”
The Padres had six hits, and all three of their runs came in the third inning to narrow their deficit to 4-3.
“We hit for one inning, and they just kept hitting,” said center fielder Jackson Merrill, who had an RBI single. “I felt like we were fighting an uphill battle. I think what we can improve on is just keep going. You know, they hit, we hit. It’s contagious on both sides of the ball.”
Right-hander Nick Pivetta (0-1, 18.00 ERA) will look to bounce back from a shaky Opening Day start in which the Padres lost 8-2 to the Detroit Tigers.
The 33-year-old was shelled for six runs and seven hits in just three innings.
During his career-best 2025 season in which he went 13-5 with a 2.87 ERA, Pivetta started four times against the Giants and went 3-0 with a 3.75 ERA. Overall, he is 4-1 with a 4.34 ERA in nine appearances (six starts) against them.
Lee (6-for-12), Adames (5-for-16) and Chapman (6-for-31) each have one homer against Pivetta.
Right-hander Adrian Houser will make his San Francisco debut after signing with the club as a free agent in the offseason.
Houser (8-5, 3.31) split last season between the Chicago White Sox (11 starts) and Tampa Bay Rays (10). It was his best campaign since 2021, when he went 10-6 with a 3.22 ERA for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Houser is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in eight career appearances (six starts) against the Padres. Manny Machado is just 1-for-13 against him while Nick Castellanos is 8-for-28 with a homer.
–Field Level Media
