Early hole dooms Giants in home opener loss

SAN FRANCISCO - The game essentially was over before some fans even reached the ballpark.

Giants starting pitcher Ty Blach gave up four runs in the first inning before recording an out during San Francisco’s home opener Tuesday afternoon against the Seattle Mariners. The Giants lost 6-4.

Blach, 27, was coming off a terrific opening-day start in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, in which he gave up three hits and no runs in five innings. He beat three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw.

The home opener didn’t go nearly as well for Blach.

He loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first inning. The Mariners’ leadoff hitter, Dee Gordon, grounded a ball to Brandon Crawford, who tried to field the ball backhanded and dropped it. It was scored a hit. Then Blach gave up a bunt single to Jean Segura. Then he walked Robinson Cano.

Blach wasn’t finished.

Next, he gave up three soft singles in a row - one to Mitch Haniger, who knocked in two runs; one to Kyle Seager, who knocked in the third run; and one to Ryon Healy, who knocked in the fourth run.

None of the hits were hard.

“If you look at how that inning unfolded,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said, “(Blach) really made some pretty good pitches. Balls were hit just where we couldn’t quite get to them. (Blach) was getting ground balls. Made one mistake with a changeup up in the zone that knocked in a couple. I thought he should have come out a little bit better than what his numbers showed.”

Still, each of the Mariners’ first six hitters reached base, and Giants relief pitcher Reyes Moronta was warming up in the bullpen during the sixth batter of the game. Blach had to throw 36 pitches - more than two innings’ worth - to get out of the first.

But Blach settled down. The next three innings, he gave up no runs.

Joe Panik led off the bottom of the fourth. On a 2-1 count, Mariners starter Marco Gonzalez threw Panik an 83-mile-an-hour changeup down the middle. Panik pulled it to right field for his third home run of the season.

Panik’s home run ended a 21-inning scoreless streak for the Giants, who hadn’t scored a run since the second game of the season. Coming into the game, they were hitting .192 - the lowest batting average in the National League.

Panik has been their best hitter by far.

“The adjustments I’ve made in the spring and so far this year,” he said, “I’ve been able to backspin the ball a lot better to the pull side.

“I start with my front foot a little bit turned in. Approach-wise, I trust myself with two strikes, so early in the count, I’m taking shots when I can, being a little more aggressive, trying to do some damage.”

How many home runs can the Giants expect Panik to hit this season with his new approach and stance at the plate? Fifteen? Twenty?

“I’d say 60,” Bochy said, totally deadpan.

Move over, Babe Ruth. Panik is on pace to hit 97 home runs this season.

In the top of the fifth, the Giants trailed 4-1. Blach immediately gave up a single, a double and a one-out walk, and Bochy yanked him from the game. The Giants’ starting pitcher for their home opener couldn’t make it out of the fifth. He gave up 10 hits and six earned runs in 4? innings.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Giants’ hitters came alive. New third baseman Evan Longoria hit a two-run home run to left field - his first hit with the Giants. He started the season 0-for-17. Now, he has a batting average. It’s .053.

“Happy to get the first hit out of the way,” Longoria said. “Overall as a group, we really haven’t clicked. Nobody has hit the ball all that well other than Joe (Panik). We’re going to hit. Just want it to happen sooner than later.”

The Giants came into the game having scored only two runs all season. And they were 1-for-28 with runners in scoring position.

On Tuesday, they had a runner in scoring position with no outs in the bottom of the eighth against reliever Juan Nicasio with the Mariners leading 6-3. Gregor Blanco was standing at second base after hitting a double on the left-field foul line. Literally on the line. The ball kicked up chalk.

The next hitter was Kelby Tomlinson, who hit a single up the middle, which moved Blanco to third. The next hitter was Austin Jackson, who hit a sacrifice fly to center field, which scored Blanco. Jackson came through with a runner in scoring position. The Giants trailed 6-4.

The next hitter was Panik, who came through again. He hit a single and moved Tomlinson to second. After a sacrifice fly by Andrew McCutchen, Tomlinson moved to third, and Buster Posey came to the plate with two runners on base, one in scoring position. The former MVP represented the go-ahead run.

On a 1-1 count, Nicasio threw Posey a 95-mile-an-hour fastball on the inside corner of the strike zone. Posey swung and hit a hard ground ball to Mariners shortstop Jean Segura, who dropped the ball. But he grabbed it with his bare hand and still threw out Posey by four steps.

“We had our guys up there,” Bochy said. “It was good to get some life there at the end. We were fighting back.”

But not enough.