Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
The Giants are up to .500, which means they’ve pulled even with Donovan Solano’s batting average.
Donnie Barrels brought his on Friday night, swinging a bat that has only heated up since he left Arizona in leading a come-from-behind effort as the Giants claimed their first victory of the year, 6-3 over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
Solano, a 33-year-old who did not establish himself as a major leaguer until the Giants called him up in 2019, has done nothing but hit since. His biggest of this inch-long season came in the seventh inning, when he turned on a Drew Steckenrider inside fastball that wasn’t even close to being a strike and punched it down the left-field line, turning a 3-3 tie into a 5-3 edge. Evan Longoria drove him in a batter later for the final total.
In 2019-20, Solano hit .328. The Colombia native batted .421 — with a .476 on-base percentage — in 38 Cactus League plate appearances this spring. He went 3-for-5 Friday, which makes him 5-for-10 in the tiny sample size. He has said he wants to add more power to his arsenal this season, but the Giants will take the relentlessness even if it doesn’t wind up over too many fences.
Solano’s 5th hit in two games is a 2-run go-ahead RBI double pic.twitter.com/9xtmosoBFq
— KNBR (@KNBR) April 3, 2021
San Francisco had melted down in the late innings on Thursday’s Opening Day, but Solano’s glove surprisingly helped steady Tyler Rogers’ outing a day later. With one on in the eighth, Kyle Seager bounced one up the middle that Solano ranged over for, spun and threw. He bounced it to Brandon Belt, who handled it cleanly, and the Giants survived the Mariners’ challenge. Rogers escaped the inning without damage, and Jake McGee got his first save of the campaign and as a Giant.
The Giants came back from a 3-1 deficit in the sixth, when Longoria blasted a two-run home run to right, his second of the season in as many games and second to the opposite field. Buster Posey added his second, too, a smash to center in the third in the first pitch he saw from Mariners lefty Yusei Kikuchi. It’s the first time Posey has homered in back-to-back games since May 8-10 — a three-game stretch — in 2017.
There are little things to glean from watching two games of baseball, but the Giants sure hope that their veterans are proving they have a lot more left to offer.
Two games, two homers for Buster Posey ? pic.twitter.com/yqMXg17OGu
— KNBR (@KNBR) April 3, 2021
Speaking of veterans with gas still in the tank, Johnny Cueto’s night was encouraging if not great. He had his struggles early on and allowed one run in the second — back-to-back doubles from Jake Fraley and Luis Torrens — and two more in the third, when Seattle strung together three hits in four batters, the last a two-run single from Evan White.
But after those hiccups, including a 29-pitch second inning, Cueto settled. Gabe Kapler stuck with him through 105 pitches, his last a fifth-inning double-play grounder from Dylan Moore. Kapler could have lifted the righty after he walked Taylor Trammell to begin the inning, but he trusted the veteran.
And the veteran appears to be trusting the Giants’ coaches. A major focus of camp has been to emphasize Cueto’s changeup, which is an excellent pitch but sometimes needs the fastball to set it up. Cueto has said he will throw what he thinks is best. On Friday, that was mostly the offspeed, which is ideal in this organization.
He threw 29 sliders and 29 changeups, with only 25 four-seamers. The pitch mix resulted in seven strikeouts in his 5 2/3 innings, in which he allowed three runs on six hits and three walks. He also induced 17 whiffs, which is his most since before he underwent Tommy John surgery. The last time he got 17 swings and misses, it was in Arizona on Sept. 25, 2017.
So the Giants got a good outing from their 35-year-old, a big night from their 33-year-old second baseman and complementary efforts from their 34-year-old catcher and 35-year-old third baseman.
It’s a new season, but old is new again.