Giants 9 - 8 Diamondbacks
Final
  for this game

Posey's homer lifts Giants over Diamondbacks

Apr 1, 2014 - 5:54 AM Phoenix, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Buster Posey smacked a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to lift the San Francisco Giants to a 9-8 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Opening Day.

Miguel Montero countered with a solo blast off Sergio Romo in the home half to pull the Diamondbacks within a run. Romo, though, stranded a runner on second to seal the win.

Brandon Belt went 3-for-5 with a solo homer and three runs scored and Angel Pagan finished with two hits and two RBI for the Giants, who saw starter Madison Bumgarner surrender four unearned runs on six hits over four innings.

Jean Machi (1-0) picked up the win after working 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

Gerardo Parra drove in three runs, while Mark Trumbo and Aaron Hill finished with two RBI apiece for the Diamondbacks, who fell to 0-3 on the season. Arizona had opened its regular season on March 22 in Australia against the Dodgers. It was swept in the brief two-game set.

Brandon McCarthy started for the D-backs and surrendered five runs on six hits over 6 2/3 innings. Addison Reed (0-1) was pegged with the loss after surrendering Posey's go-ahead blast in the ninth.

"There was a call there in the seventh that changed the entire outlook of the game. Overall, there is just one pitch I want back, and that was to Belt. Other than that I felt pretty good," said McCarthy.

Arizona led 7-3 entering the seventh inning, but San Francisco rallied for four runs in the frame to tie things up. With Joaquin Arias on first and two outs, Ehrie Adrianza ripped an RBI double to right field, spelling the end of McCarthy's night. Pagan greeted reliever Oliver Perez with a double off third baseman Martin Prado's glove to score Adrianza.

Belt followed with a single to put runners on the corners before Pablo Sandoval hit a soft liner to right to bring Pagan around. Brad Ziegler replaced Perez at that point and surrendered a base hit to Posey that loaded the bases before issuing a walk to Hunter Pence that forced in the game-tying run.

In the ninth, Belt singled with one out. After Sandoval struck out, Posey launched a moonshot off the second deck in left-center field for a 9-7 lead.

"Terrible pitch, good swing. Anyone is going to hit that a long way," said Reed.

Montero opened the home half with a homer to get Arizona within a run. Chris Owings then reached on a bunt single before moving to second on Parra's sacrifice bunt. Romo, though, fanned pinch-hitter Eric Chavez before getting A.J. Pollock to pop up to end the game.

The Giants broke through for a run in the third inning on Pagan's RBI single.

Arizona plated four runs in the fourth to take the lead. With the bases loaded and no outs, Parra laced a single to right to score Trumbo and Montero. After McCarthy and Pollock were retired, Hill ripped a double to right to clear the bases.

Blanco plated a run in the fifth with his groundout to second, but the D- backs tacked on two more in the home half to make it 6-2. First, Prado doubled then scored on a Trumbo single to center. After back-to-back singles from Montero and Owings loaded the bases, Para reached on a fielder's choice that score Trumbo.

Belt led off the sixth with a homer, but Trumbo laced an RBI single in the bottom of the frame to give the hosts a 7-3 lead.

Game Notes

The Giants are 21-15 in season-openers on the road since moving to San Francisco in 1958 ... Bumgarner made his first-ever Opening Day start. He was the first Giants lefty to start the lid-lifter since Barry Zito did so in 2008 ... The Giants were 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position ... The D-backs had won four straight home openers at Chase Field entering the contest. They are 6-5 all-time in Chase Field openers ... Paul Goldschmidt, who went 2-for-5 with a double, extended his hitting streak to 21 games dating back to last season.






Related News