All it takes is a glance at the slip of paper Dave Roberts fills out each day to comprehend the challenge of going up against this mighty Dodgers squad, a 100-win team that only got better this winter. They spent a billion dollars and brought in baseball’s biggest star to an already well-oiled operation that has had its grip on the National League West for the better part of the past decade.

And yes, facing Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman in succession proved to be as difficult as it looked on paper.

Making his first start of the season in Monday’s series opener at Dodger Stadium, Keaton Winn pitched well but wasn’t able to contain the big three in Los Angeles’ lineup, who powered their vaunted squad to an 8-3 win over the Giants in the first of 13 meetings between the archrivals this season.

“That’s a lot of high-powered guys, for sure,” Winn said. “You’ve really got to focus up and make pitches, especially the first five guys.”

Some combination of Betts, Ohtani and Freeman played a role in six of the Dodgers’ eight runs. The trio combined for six hits — four for extra bases — in 11 at-bats, scoring six runs and driving in three more. Catcher Will Smith, their cleanup hitter, also reached base three times and drove in a pair of runs.

“It is what it is, right? They have a good team,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Top of the lineup is about as good as any in baseball. We’ve just got to try to navigate it better.”

The rest of the lineup went 1-for-19, the one hit being a three-run homer from Teoscar Hernandez, which drove in Smith and Freeman, sending a slider from Tyler Rogers deep into the left field seats to break the game open, widening the Dodgers’ advantage to 6-1 in the sixth inning.

The 33 runs allowed by the Giants are more through the first five games than all but three other seasons in the team’s San Francisco history (1983, 2012, 2017), and 19 have come against their relievers.

“We can do better,” Melvin said of a group that has already had four members make their big-league debuts. “We also have some guys coming. That’s going to be key for us. Whether it’s Blake (Snell), Alex (Cobb), certainly Robbie Ray down the road. Closing games out is going to be key for us.”

After being slowed to start spring by elbow soreness, Winn only made two Cactus League starts prior to his first in the regular season Monday. The late start limited his workload, but he showed no signs of rust, racking up six strikeouts over his five innings.

The Dodgers swung and missed on 14 of Winn’s 89 pitches, the most whiffs any pitcher has totaled against the powerful lineup so far this season. His splitter was particularly lethal, using it to finish off four of his strikeouts, including one placed on the inside corner to ring up Freeman, but it was his slider that he threw 20 times that he was most encouraged by.

“I had to have thrown more sliders today than I threw all of last year combined,” Winn said, coming close (he threw 21 total last season). “Definitely going to build off the slider and the slider feel. It was the most I’ve ever thrown the pitch in a game. I thought I did pretty good with it. … Mainly it got guys off the split and fastball. That’s kind of what I fell into last year.”

The one walk issued by Winn, to Betts with one out in the third, came around to score when Ohtani ripped a double off the bag at first base and Freeman followed with a line drive single that screamed through the Giants infield playing on the cut of the grass with runners on second and third.

After taking eight walks in their 13-4 loss to the Padres on Sunday, Giants hitters earned five more free passes from Dodgers starter James Paxton.

But for the second straight game, they failed to capitalize, stranding nine men on base and a seventh-inning RBI single from Wilmer Flores amounting to their only hit in six at-bats with runners in scoring position.

A late addition to the lineup after bruising up his shoulder falling into the dugout the day before, Flores came up in the spots the Giants wanted against the left-hander, with two runners on base in the third and the bases loaded in the fifth, but grounded out each time before delivering in his third attempt.

A solo home run from Michael Conforto, his third of the season, got the Giants on the board in the sixth, after Paxton departed with five shutout innings on his record.

“You keep getting guys on base, you’re going to have the ability to do some damage. So just keep after it,” Melvin said. “We left some guys on base and didn’t really do well with runners in scoring position. But we will.”

Notable

Right-hander Nick Avila, 26, made his major-league debut in the seventh inning and got about as difficult an introduction to the big leagues as there is. Pitching the final two frames, Avila surrendered a pair of doubles to Betts and Freeman but notched a moment to remember, getting Ohtani to foul a 94 mph fastball into the glove of Tom Murphy to prevail in a seven-pitch battle with the sport’s highest-paid and highest-profile player.

“He’s probably the best hitter in baseball. Pretty cool to have that as my first strikeout,” said Avila, who got the ball and planned to get Ohtani to sign it. “It definitely was a hard AB, so I tip my cap to him. I just tried to beat him up (in the zone). I threw some cutters in and slipped a fastball right past him. I won that battle, but I’m sure I’ll face him again.”

Up next

The Giants will turn to their ace, Logan Webb, to snap their two-game skid in the second of three games at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles has not named a starter. Kyle Harrison will start the series finale Wednesday, and Jordan Hicks will get the ball for the home opener Friday against the Padres.

Passing up the opportunity to debut at Dodger Stadium, Snell will make his first start Monday at home in the first game of the Giants’ series against the Washington Nationals. There was some belief he could start the series finale here Wednesday, but instead Snell will throw one more simulated game.

“You look at the build up you go through in spring training and it just didn’t feel like we’re there yet,” manager Bob Melvin said. “I think he’s going to feel a lot better.”

Snell threw 71 pitches over four innings at Scottsdale Stadium on Friday, racking up 11 strikeouts against Double-A competition. The Giants aim to get in the 70-80 pitch range again in his final tune-up Wednesday, the biggest difference being the setting — Dodger Stadium — and the competition, his own major-league teammates.

“It’s been pretty easy for him the first couple games,” Melvin said. “A lot of strikeouts with guys just sitting on the fastball. We can get some guys in there that will probably challenge him a little bit more. And then he’ll be ready to go after that.”

Following Keaton Winn, Logan Webb and Kyle Harrison will start the final games at Dodger Stadium. Jordan Hicks will get the nod Friday in the Giants’ home opener.

Flores shows toughness

Initially, the Giants’ lineup Monday against Dodgers lefty James Paxton didn’t include Wilmer Flores.

After Flores tumbled over the railing and into the first-base dugout at Petco Park, Melvin anticipated giving him at least a day to recover and penciled in Tyler Fitzgerald to make his first career start at first base. But shortly before the manager met with reporters before first pitch, he had a lineup change to announce: Flores was in there.

“Originally I thought there was no chance,” Melvin said. “It tells you a lot about him.”

While Flores said his right shoulder was still sore, “like when you get hit,” everything checked out when he went through hitting and throwing drills. It should come as no surprise after Flores petitioned to remain in the game Sunday after taking a nasty fall.

“Really, the reason he came out yesterday was he cut his finger pretty good and it was bleeding and we couldn’t get it stopped,” Melvin said. “He wanted to stay in the game.”

The late lineup change meant Flores’ primary first baseman’s mitt would be in use.

Had the Giants stuck with Fitzgerald, the do-it-all man had planned to employ Flores’ backup mitt. Hard to blame him for not owning one of his own, given he only picked up the position late this spring training as it became clear his path to the major-league roster was as a super-utility player.

Fitzgerald logged exactly one game at the position — during the Bay Bridge series — before being asked to start there in front of 55,000-plus at Dodger Stadium. Surely he had some experience there in high school or college? “Never,” he said. Little league? “My whole life.”

“The second time is tonight,” he said, or at least it would have been.

While he didn’t get the chance to break in Flores’ leather for him, expect to see Fitzgerald at first — and everywhere else — at some point this season.

He’s already crossed off pitching, covering eighth inning in Sunday’s blowout loss to the Padres. At shortstop, his natural position, Fitzgerald booted the first ground ball of the game, leading to four unearned runs, but said a day later, “I’ve always prided myself on defense, so yesterday was very upsetting. I’m excited. I’m not going to put any pressure on myself like I did yesterday, so hopefully I’ll be more calm than yesterday.”

Avila brings 15-0 record to bullpen

In need of coverage out of their bullpen, the Giants added a good luck charm with a roster move before Monday’s game.

At least that must be what Nick Avila is, after the righty won all 14 of his decisions for Triple-A Sacramento last season and, then, in his first appearance this year, earned the win again. While pitcher wins have fallen out of fashion, a 15-0 record in his past 15 decisions is almost absurd enough to matter.

“It was just like, are you serious, we’re starting off the year right where we left off last year,” Avila laughed from the visitor’s clubhouse. “I thought it was pretty funny. All the coaches were joking, ‘Gotta get the win, of course.’”

Avila took the roster spot of Daulton Jefferies, who was optioned to Triple-A after surrendering nine runs (five earned) over two innings in the 13-4 loss to the Padres. The Giants were in need of innings behind Keaton Winn, Monday’s starter, who is still building up after a late start to spring training.

Melvin said Avila, 26, would serve “a length role in the bullpen, which we kind of desperately need.

“Hopefully we don’t have to use him and we can get some innings out of Keaton. It’s nice to have that security blanket though.”

In other roster moves, the Giants reinstated Mike Yastrzemski from the paternity list following the birth Friday of his second child and first son with his wife, Paige. That spelled the end of Luis Matos’ brief stint with the big club, optioned back to Triple-A.

To clear space to add Avila the 40-man roster, infielder Otto Lopez was designated for assignment.

Before long, that excitement had faded into agony as the Giants’ Easter Sunday turned into a day from hell.

In a 13-4 loss to split the four-game set with the Padres, Jefferies received a rude welcome back to the big leagues, surrendering nine runs (five earned) and a pair of homers. The onslaught continued against his replacement, Kai-Wei Teng, who needed 40 pitches to complete his first inning in the majors before recovering to make it through three frames.

“It was a tough day, a weird game all around,” Melvin said afterward.

To add, well, injury to insult, the Giants also lost one of their most beloved and important players when Wilmer Flores injured his throwing shoulder tumbling over the railing of the first-base dugout on the Padres’ second batter of the game. He was diagnosed with a right shoulder contusion, but Melvin said afterward that Flores had avoided any significant injuries.

After rollicking the past two games, a blowout loss dealt a blow to whatever momentum had been built heading into a big series at Dodger Stadium and with another three games against the Padres on deck when the Giants return home.

The good news is the Giants shouldn’t have to wait long for reinforcements for their starting rotation. Blake Snell went four innings in a minor-league game Friday, and if he’s ready to step into the rotation for his next turn — which lines up for the series finale Wednesday in Los Angeles — San Francisco wouldn’t need another spot start.

After impressing with his strike-throwing in spring training, limiting opponents to a 2.25 ERA with a 15:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio, it was decided before the Giants left for San Diego that Jefferies would start their fourth game of the season, though he was only added to the roster before first pitch. (In a corresponding move, former No. 2 overall draft pick Joey Bart was designated for assignment, bringing an end to his tenure with the organization.)

A fellow Cal product, Melvin said he played the Golden Bears fight song for Jefferies when he informed him he made the roster. The two go back to their days in Oakland, where Melvin managed Jefferies as an up-and-coming prospect before his career was sidetracked by two Tommy John surgeries and thoracic outlet syndrome.

Jefferies had no trouble finding the plate, but Padres hitters — and his own defense — repeatedly punished him.

The Padres plated five runs while bringing eight men to the plate in the first inning, capped off by a three-run homer from Luis Campusano, but only one run was charged to Jefferies. Rookie shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald, making his first of the season in place of Nick Ahmed, booted the first ball off a Padre’s bat, allowing leadoff hitter Xander Bogaerts to reach base on a fielding error and prolonging the inning to bring Campusano to the plate.

“You go all offseason preparing for the first game of the year, and I just kind of let the game speed up on me,” said Fitzgerald, whose day was far from over. “Hopefully I can learn from that and calm my emotions and just get ready for the next game.”

All four of the Padres’ runs in the second inning were earned, with Ha-Seong Kim launching another three-run shot into an open window in the Western Metal Supply Co. building in left field that extended San Diego’s lead to 9-0.

Kim turned on a middle-in changeup and left no doubt, while Campusano lifted a fastball that just cleared the short porch in right field, 329 feet away. Both home runs came on the first pitch of the at-bat.

While Jefferies said he was “happy to get back on the mound, for sure, at the end of the day, I didn’t really do my job. … I could feel good all I want about getting back here, but when I got back here I wanted to compete and help the team win. I just didn’t do that today. … Welcome back to the big leagues.”

The Padres’ starter, Michael King, was equally ineffective, issuing seven walks over four innings, but the Giants failed to capitalize.

With a rally brewing in the fourth, the Giants had two runs in and two men on base with one out when Jorge Soler popped a pitch into shallow left field. Kim, the shortstop, backpedaled but missed the ball, allowing it to fall to the grass, about 40 feet beyond the cut of the dirt.

Rather than ruling it an error or a base hit, the second base umpire, Adam Hamari, called an infield fly. The Giants runners advanced to second and third, but Soler was ruled out for the second out of the inning, and the threat was extinguished a batter later when LaMonte Wade Jr. was called out on strikes.

In his first spat with an umpire from the Giants’ bench, Melvin voraciously protested the call to no avail.

“It was in the outfield when it was dropped,” Melvin said of his argument. “It wasn’t a routine play.”

The rout ended with the first position player to pitch for the Giants this season, Fitzgerald’s reward for his error in the field and hat trick at the plate.

While Fitzgerald has earned the reputation for playing anywhere, even beginning to pick up first base, pitching was something new for him. He hadn’t stepped onto a mound since his freshman year at Rochester High School in Illinois. It didn’t come with much notice, only told of the plan when he returned to the dugout after his at-bat in the top half of the inning.

“He asked me, ‘Have you pitched before?’ I said, ‘No, but I can do it,’” Fitzgerald said.

He retired the side on 11 pitches, one of the Giants’ quickest innings of the afternoon.

“We’ve been out there on defense long enough today,” he said. “Just get off the field as fast as possible.”

Notable

Teng made history when he stepped onto the mound to begin the third inning, becoming the only active Taiwanese player in the majors — the 17th all-time — and the first ever in Giants history. While he was tagged for three runs on three walks and a pair of hits in his 40-pitch first inning, he settled in to retire six of the next seven hitters he faced while recording four strikeouts.

Growing up in Taiwan, an island nation southwest of Japan, Teng’s favorite pitcher was Yu Darvish, and he got to meet the Padres starter this series.

More than that, Darvish gifted Teng one of his gloves, a natural leather Asics mitt with teal accents embroidered with Darvish’s signature.

“That was the most meaningful moment in my baseball life so far,” Teng said in Mandarin through interpreter Matt Chan. “The first day, our bullpen catcher introduced Darvish to me because they know each other. He told Darvish this is my debut, and he said this year is going to be a really big year for you. This glove shows that I’ll be rooting for you.”

Up next

The Giants head up the coast for a three-game series at Dodger Stadium to close out their opening road trip. Keaton Winn is scheduled to start Monday against left-hander James Paxton, though he isn’t expected to go longer than five innings as he continues to build up his workload after being sidelined to start spring training.

Flores left the game the following inning and was diagnosed with a contusion in his right shoulder but other than some cuts and scrapes is “doing all right,” manager Bob Melvin said afterward. “Believe it or not he tried to stay in the game.”

The second batter of the bottom of the first, Fernando Tatis Jr., popped a pitch from Giants starter Daulton Jefferies into foul territory to the right of first base. As Flores tracked it down, his path took him toward the Padres’ dugout, where he collided with the railing and tumbled headfirst onto the top step.

He collided with the bench, breaking his fall and didn’t hit his head — “thank God,” Flores said — but messed up his shoulder and back.

“It feels pretty sore right now,” Flores said. “I thought I had a chance, but I didn’t realize how dangerous it was. At the time I was just looking at the ball. After I fell, I don’t know what happened.”

Wilmer Flores stayed in the game after falling into the Padres' dugout in an attempt to catch a foul ball pic.twitter.com/FveC5mQTGN

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) March 31, 2024

Flores laid on the dugout floor for a few minutes while a commotion ensued to make sure he was OK. Melvin and multiple Giants trainers sprinted from their dugout on the third-base line to check up on their beloved first baseman, while the remainder of the Giants infield rushed over to the dugout railing.

“He missed the whole second level and went all the way down. There’s a step and then one more and he went all the way down there,” Melvin said. “It was pretty scary.”

Flores initially remained in the game to finish the inning in the field, even ranging to his left to field a ground ball for the second out, but was removed for pinch-hitter Luis Matos when his spot in the lineup came up to lead off the top of the second.

As for whether or not Flores will require a stint on the injured list, Melvin said, “We’ll see how he’s feeling tomorrow.”

Bart, the second overall selection in the 2018 draft, was designated for assignment to open a roster spot for right-hander Daulton Jefferies, who was called up to start the Giants’ series finale against the Padres. While the Giants initially opted to carry Bart on their Opening Day roster, the move was a long time coming after they signed Tom Murphy to be Patrick Bailey’s primary backup.

Bart, 27, is eligible to be traded for the next week, but if the Giants cannot find a partner, he would be placed on unconditional release waivers, where he is almost certain to be claimed and added to another team’s major-league roster. He has no options remaining and can’t be sent to the minors without being placed on waivers again.

In a text message, Bart said he “just wish(es) the best for my teammates and excited for a new opportunity.”

A change of scenery could benefit Bart, who never quite escaped from Posey’s shadow. It was always going be difficult to fill the shoes of the Giants’ franchise catcher, and Bart’s duty was only made more difficult by conditions outside his control.

When he was tearing up the Arizona Fall League in 2019, Bart was hit in the hand by a pitch, ending his season. The next year, Bart was thrust into the starting job in the majors when Posey opted out of the pandemic season, despite not playing a game above Double-A. And when Posey returned for 2021, Bart was left to toil at Triple-A almost all season, rather than learn under his predecessor as his backup during their 107-win season.

“Sometimes when you have to move on from your first team, it’s hard,” manager Bob Melvin said. “But I think he’s going to get a better opportunity than he was afforded here.”

A former catcher, Melvin would know, having been traded from the Tigers after his rookie season to San Francisco, where he established himself as a big leaguer and went on to enjoy a 10-year playing career. Throughout spring, Melvin touted Bart’s attitude as well as the strides he made as a player.

“It certainly looked to me like he developed this spring,” Melvin said. “I know it was a quick ascent for him and it was difficult, you’re coming in after a legend here and things don’t go smoothly right away. Now all of a sudden you’re up and down. That can be hard, and hard on your psyche as well. But I think he got past that this spring and came into spring training in a good place and was just looking forward to having a good spring, knowing something like this might happen.”

Bart was the final first-round pick of the previous regime under Bobby Evans. Once Farhan Zaidi arrived in 2019, the Giants used their top selection on another catcher, Patrick Bailey, just a year after spending the second overall pick on Bart.

Bailey arrived midway through last season and seized the starting job, effectively putting a ticking clock on Bart’s tenure with the organization. There was some thought the Giants could pair their two first-round catchers, but that was snuffed out when they agreed to a two-year deal with Murphy.

“I feel like our relationship probably grew the most in these last couple weeks,” Bailey said. “He was awesome the whole time. He’s a great dude. I love being around him. I hate to see him go. It’s kind of the tough part of the business, but I know wherever he ends up, he’s going to do just fine.”

Jefferies completes long road back

Jefferies, 28, made his first major-league start since May 18, 2022, before he underwent thoracic outlet surgery and his second Tommy John procedure.

Posting a 2.25 ERA and a 15:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in four spring training outings, Jefferies didn’t open the season on the active roster but was always slated to start the fourth game of the season, which Melvin informed him of before hitting the road, adding an extra layer of flair for the fellow Cal product.

“I even played the Cal fight song when I told him he was going to be on the team,” Melvin said. “You don’t realize how lonely rehab is, and then a second one is really tough on you. The uncertainty if you’re going to get back, then to actually sign with a team … it’s pretty cool. I think he felt really good about working as hard as he did and getting the fruits of his hard labor to get to this point again. So, an exciting day for us and an exciting day for him.”

Snell still TBD

After facing a lineup of minor-leaguers for four innings Friday night, Blake Snell still doesn’t have a determined date to join the Giants rotation. He struck out 11 while throwing 71 pitches and allowing three hits.

“Just trying to get ready,” he said. “The big leagues is definitely a lot different, so I don’t take that too seriously. I feel good. Just getting more reps, better and better, stronger and stronger. When I get out there, that’ll be when I’m able to tell where I’m at.”

When that might be, Snell wasn’t prepared to say.

If he remains on regular rest, his next turn through the rotation would line up with the Giants’ series finale at Dodger Stadium.

“I have ideas,” Snell said, “but nothing solid yet. The next couple days we should know.”

“Just the way the ball comes off his bat, the sound, you know it when you see it and when you hear it,” Michael Conforto said. “He squares the ball up. He does it a lot.”

Jung Hoo Lee did about all he could in spring training to put to rest any doubts about his ability to adjust to major-league pitching, peppering the middle of the field with line drives while batting .343 with a .911 OPS. As Conforto said, “I feel like we saw it right away. At least the guys who were there early on when he was taking batting practice.” But those were exhibitions, not always against the top competition, and worth taking with a grain of salt.

Yu Darvish? Joe Musgrove? Dylan Cease?

That’s the real deal.

Lee waited until his at-bat against lefty Tom Cosgrove in the eighth inning Saturday to unleash his most impressive swing yet, sending a 1-1 sweeper towering into the right field seats, 406 feet away, for his first MLB home run, kicking off a six-run rally in the eventual 9-6 win.

When the Giants signed Lee to a six-year, $113 million contract, they were confident in his ability to make the transition from the KBO because of his pitch recognition and contact skills. The power on display not only in his swing Saturday but throughout spring and his first three games has been better than advertised.

Lee only reached double-digit home run totals twice in Korea, topping out at 23 in 2022, though he noted through interpreter Justin Han, “When I got my first home run in the KBO, it was in one of the biggest stadiums … (and) I also got a lot of doubles, triples.”

“Originally, maybe,” Melvin said he thought of Lee as a contact hitter. “But then you see him take batting practice, and you saw what he did in spring training. He’s hitting balls over 105 (mph) pretty consistently. That’s a pretty tough lefty to hit his first home run off of. It’s been impressive across the board at this point.”

Lee’s home run ball found a friendly landing spot with a family of three from the Bay Area, who traded the souvenir for three autographed baseballs and a hat.

On top of his four hits in 12 at-bats, Lee has already driven in four runs, two coming on a pair of sacrifice flies that represent the type of situational hitting Melvin values.

Potentially more predictive of his future success, the balls Lee is putting in play have been well-struck.

이정후 개인 첫 홈런

JUNG HOO LEE'S FIRST MLB HOME RUN pic.twitter.com/BxW2s5Vb9K

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) March 31, 2024

Since striking out against Darvish in his first at-bat, Lee has put the ball in play in all of his 13 other plate appearances. Eight of them have left the bat at 95 mph or harder, the definition of hard contact, which leaguewide occurs on just over a third of batted balls.

Four have exceeded 100 mph, including his homer off Cosgrove, which left the bat at 104.4 mph. His second single on Opening Day was clocked at 108.9 mph, an exit velocity Giants batters produced only 51 times last season, the third-fewest in the major leagues.

It’s a team-wide trend, too, with 31 hard-hit balls the past two games, more than all but one two-game stretch last season.

“It’s a contagious thing,” said Conforto, whose grand slam following Lee’s home run left the bat at 105.1 mph. “You watch a guy grind a two-strike count, put the barrel on the ball, take really good swings, really good takes, it kind of just inspires the next guy and wears out the pitchers.”

One guy, though, seems to draw everyone’s eyeballs.

Conforto called Lee a “spark plug” and said, “We love watching him hit. Everybody’s watching him when he’s up there.”

That adoration is a two-way street, as Lee said in Korean, “I feel like getting adjusted to the league has been a good process, and it’s all because of my teammates.” Before he was soaked in the customary beer shower in the postgame locker room to commemorate his first home run, Lee was asked if he had any words for his teammates. “I love you!” he responded, in English.

What is it that has Giants hitters so enamored?

“Just his discipline, his eye at the plate, his ability to stay on pitches, stay to the middle of the field,” Conforto said. “Obviously we saw a little bit of power. A lot of power. He’s been awesome. We’re just gonna keep putting him at the top of the lineup and let him set the tone for us.”

Called on to record the final two outs in his first appearance of the season, closer Camilo Doval was nicked for two pitch clock violations and allowed a three-run home run off the right-field foul pole that cut the Giants’ advantage from eight to three, but the offensive explosion the inning prior allowed them to survive.

Even before the offensive spigot was flowing, they could take some measure of satisfaction in their offseason mantra paying off only three games into the season.

It was all about defense, and the Giants’ glovework — and the contrast to their opponents’ lack thereof — was on display for much of the afternoon.

Making his Giants debut and first start since 2022, Jordan Hicks slapped his glove, screamed and pointed to the visitors’ dugout after recording the final out of the fourth inning. Backed into a bases-loaded jam, Hicks escaped unscathed thanks to his Gold Glove-winning shortstop, Nick Ahmed, who nabbed a hard-hit line drive for the third out.

Hicks had plenty of occasions to be fired up by the play behind him while going five shutout innings, matching his previous career-high and earning his first career win as a starting pitcher.

Third baseman Matt Chapman backhanded a grounder from Fernando Tatis Jr., twirled and threw to first in time to end the third inning, and it was Ahmed again who made Tatis the victim to end the fifth, charging a softly hit grounder, barehanding the ball and making the throw to first just in time.

“We saw it pretty early in spring training; it’s been pretty seamless between those two,” manager Bob Melvin said of the Giants’ remade left side of the infield. “You’re seeing a lot of really good plays made.”

On the flip side, the Giants built their advantage on defensive mishaps from Padres outfielders, including an egregious error from Tatis, a Platinum Glove-winner. A line drive to right field off the bat of Ahmed should have been the second out of the fifth inning but instead set up a sac fly from Jung Hoo Lee when Tatis completely whiffed on his attempt to catch the routine fly ball, allowing Ahmed to reach second and Tom Murphy, who reached on a one-out walk, to third.

Taking a 2-0 lead in the second inning, the Giants capitalized on a bloop double down the left field line from Michael Conforto that also put runners at second and third after a walk to Wilmer Flores. The shallow pop fly fell to the ground as left fielder Jurickson Profar and third baseman Tyler Wade converged but failed to make the play.

There was nothing cheap about the double that drove home Conforto, though, a 109 mph rocket down the left field line from Murphy.

The same could be said about the 406 foot, 104 mph home run off the bat of Lee for the first of six runs in the eighth inning. Turning on a 1-1 sweeper from Tom Cosgrove — a lefty, to boot — Lee lifted a towering home run into the right field seats that would have been gone in all 30 ballparks, according to Statcast.

“That’s a pretty tough lefty to hit his first home run off of,” Melvin said. “It’s been impressive across the board at this point.”

After crossing home plate, Lee gestured to his family in the stands behind the third base dugout, then was greeted by a tunnel of high fives. The true indoctrination came afterward, trading three autographed baseballs and a hat to a family of three Bay Area natives who caught the baseball, then making his way back into the clubhouse, where he was doused in Bud Light by his teammates.

In a video posted to his interpreter Justin Han’s Instagram, Lee is asked if he would like to say anything to his teammates before they crack open their cans.

“I love you!” he responds, in English.

Lee’s homer was only the start of the celebration, though, as the Giants would load the bases only for Conforto to unload them with one swing of the bat — on the ninth pitch of his at-bat.

“I almost fell over I swung so hard the first two (pitches),” Conforto said, eventually running the count full. “The plan was to get him middle-in. He throws a nasty sinker, so it looks like it’s going middle in, but it ends up in off the plate. So, 0-2, it was just time to fight, see it deep and shorten up the swing a little bit. I kind of knew in the back of my mind at some point he was going to come back to the sinker. On that ninth pitch, he came back to it and I put a much better swing on it.”

The grand slam was Conforto’s second home run in three games, raising his early season OPS to 1.539, the fifth-best mark through early action in the National League.

“I’m feeling like everything’s coming together at the right time, at the beginning of the season,” he said. “It was a cool at-bat to have, bases loaded against that guy. He’s a good lefty. To battle and fight and kind of change my approach by the end of it, that felt really good.”

With a pair of power pitchers in Hicks and Dylan Cease on the mound, there wasn’t much quality contact to speak of through the first five frames. The two doubles amounted to the Giants’ only hits until the floodgates opened against Cosgrove in the eighth, while the Padres mustered just five until their ninth-inning rally.

Only four Padres reached base in Hicks’ five innings of work, and it took until Jake Cronenworth’s single to lead off the fourth for them to record their first hit.

Hicks needed 15 pitches to record the first two outs of the game, pumping a 97 mph sinker past Xander Bogaerts on the seventh pitch of his leadoff at-bat, but recovered and required only 80 to complete five innings. At that point, he told Melvin that was all he had.

“He was tired,” Melvin said. “That was going to be it. He goes from a late-inning reliever to his first start giving us five innings and 80 pitches? That’s enough.”

Hicks struck out six, leaning on his splitter to finish off the final five of his victims. Only incorporating the pitch late into spring, he threw it 14 times and generated four of his seven swings and misses from Padres batters. In the bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning, Hicks got the second out of the inning himself, getting Tyler Wade to swing through a perfectly located split at the bottom of the strike zone.

“It’s a complete surprise, I think, right now,” said Murphy, who also made his first start. “Nobody’s really planning for that pitch. Nobody’s really seen it. It’s got great action. The action’s incredible. Straight down when it’s good. … In my opinion, that’s how he’s going to get really good hitters out.”

The splitter might be Hicks’ most important pitch, but his blazing fastball was what he built his reputation on. While there were no triple-digit readings, Hicks topped out at 99.4, and reached 98 mph 17 times, something only Tim Lincecum and Carlos Rodón have done as Giants starting pitchers in the pitch-tracking era.

“He did a really good job of turning it on when he needed to,” Murphy said. “You saw some runners get on base, second and third, and he starts popping 98s. When you have that in your back pocket for when you need it, that’s going to be huge. And that’s the kind of tempering that he needs to do throughout the season.”

Taylor Rogers relieved Hicks, also making his first appearance of the year, and like Doval, also ran into trouble, allowing San Diego to scratch back one run when Profar doubled home Cronenworth on a sweeper that caught too much of the plate.

Doval was called on to protect a six-run lead after Erik Miller served up a two-run homer to Eguy Rosario that made it 9-3. His struggles mirrored those of his first appearance of last season, when he nearly blew a 7-5 win with the rain falling at Yankee Stadium, even down to the pitch clock violations and PitchCom malfunction.

It didn’t help that Doval was working with a new catcher in Murphy, and the Giants no longer employ the field coach who would translate during mound visits, Nick Ortiz. But after huddling with Murphy and Wilmer Flores — and getting called for his second automatic ball — he was out of it in no time, getting Manny Machado to bounce a slider to Flores at third for the final out.

“It’s not an ideal situation for a closer,” Melvin said. “I’ll talk to him later.”

Up next

The Giants will call up Daulton Jefferies to start the series finale — first pitch 1:10 p.m. — with Kai-Wei Teng a strong possibility to take down multiple innings in relief. It could spell the end of Joey Bart’s tenure in San Francisco, as the Giants will need to create space for Jefferies on the 26- and 40-man rosters.

On the mound for the Padres will be Michael King, one of the five players acquired from the Yankees for Juan Soto. Another one, Jhony Brito, kept San Diego in the game Saturday with 2⅓ scoreless innings of relief.

Shana Daum, the vice president of communications, said in a text message that the organization “will explore multiple options that will work in the new park to showcase the tile messages,” but that they will not take the form of the digital kiosk, which upset fans who paid for a physical commemoration.

Set to open in time for the Giants’ home opener Friday, the new China Basin Park connected to the Mission Rock development will feature a reinstalled McCovey statue but not the bricks that accompanied it until construction began in 2020. The original bricks were destroyed, Daum said, but their messages were preserved.

The original plan, announced in a Thursday email to fans who originally purchased the bricks, was to transfer the messages to a digital kiosk that would be on display in the park. However, the organization received swift backlash from fans who paid between $95 and $250 in 2002 to fund upgrades to the ballpark.

Within hours of the San Francisco Chronicle reporting fans’ dismay, the organization switched course.

“We heard from our passionate and loyal fans,” Daum said.

Snell threw four innings Friday night at Scottsdale Stadium against the Giants’ Double-A hitters with the expected results for one of the majors’ most overpowering pitchers against a lineup of minor leaguers. He racked up 11 strikeouts while allowing three hits, throwing 74 pitches, manager Bob Melvin relayed Saturday.

“He’s been known to strike some people out,” Melvin said, but declined to provide many more details.

Melvin wasn’t ready to commit to penciling in Snell for his next turn through the rotation, saying that he still needed to discuss next steps with the left-hander. But if Snell stays on turn, the next time he would be scheduled to pitch would line up with the finale of the Giants’ road trip Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.

Snell has made six career starts at Dodger Stadium with a 1.80 ERA, plus Games 2 and 6 of the 2020 World Series, when Snell combined to limit the eventual champions to three runs over 10 innings while striking out 18. In 2022, Snell helped the Padres clinch a three-game sweep of the Dodgers in the NLDS, earning the win with 5⅓ innings in the decisive Game 3 at Petco Park.

Informed of Snell’s success against the Dodgers, Melvin smiled and said, “I heard that somewhere.”

While Snell was on hand Saturday, he was not available during the time the clubhouse is opened to reporters.

Another number the Giants are factoring in is 1.36, or the difference in Snell’s career ERA in the first half of the season (3.82) versus his mark after the All-Star break (2.46). Snell has historically been a slow starter, troubles that could potentially be magnified by his delayed arrival to spring training. Even during his Cy Young campaign last season had a 5.48 ERA at the end of April.

“We don’t talk about that, but I’m aware of that,” Melvin said. “So is he.”

Yastrzemski due back Monday

Mike Yastrzemski is expected to meet the Giants in Los Angeles on Monday for the start of their series against the Dodgers.

Yastrzemski’s wife, Paige, gave birth Friday to the couple’s second child. Michael Cahill Yastrzemski, nicknamed “Kai,” was born at 4:48 p.m., weighing 8 pounds, 14 ounces. After starting in right field Thursday for Opening Day, Yastrzemski will have missed three games in total on the paternity list.

With Yastrzemski due back, that will likely bring an end to Luis Matos’ time on the roster.

Wade back in the outfield

For the second game in a row Saturday, Melvin kept the young outfielder on the bench in favor of LaMonte Wade Jr., who got the start in right field with Wilmer Flores at first base.

Melvin has said Wade will play more of the outfield this season after logging only 20 games there last year, mostly as a late-game substitution. The decision to keep Matos out of the lineup, Melvin explained, had to do with maximizing the left-handed hitters in the lineup against San Diego righty Dylan Cease.

“And Wilmer Flores is pretty good,” Melvin added.

Who will start Sunday?

Keaton Winn is expected to start Monday’s series opener in Los Angeles, but before then, the Giants have a hole to fill in their rotation.

Melvin said he would know who would start Sunday’s series finale in San Diego after Saturday’s game had finished but indicated it could be a pitcher not currently on the roster. The obvious option is Daulton Jefferies, who consistently threw strikes all spring but was left off the Opening Day roster.

Where it could get complicated is adding Jefferies to the 40-man roster, where the Giants would have to open a spot to add him. It could spell the end of Joey Bart’s tenure with him taking up valuable space as the third catcher on the active roster. Bart cannot be sent to the minors without being designated for assignment, which would also remove him from the 40-man roster.

Another option is Kai-Wei Teng, who was recalled Friday when Luke Jackson was placed on the injured list. If and when Teng, 25, appears in a game, he would become the 17th Taiwanese player in major-league history and the first to play for the Giants.

And yet, when the bullpen phone rang in the sixth inning of the second game of the season, with the Giants holding a two-run lead Friday night, the voice on the other end of the line told Roupp to get ready. It would be the first appearance of his career above Double-A.

By the time Roupp emerged from the bullpen door in center field and took the mound, the Giants had widened their lead in the eventual 8-3 win, but that didn’t lessen the adrenaline pulsing through the 25-year-old right-hander’s North Carolina blood.

“I didn’t really feel anything, but I could tell I was amped up when I was out there throwing,” Roupp said. “It was unreal.”

Manager Bob Melvin called it “one of those out-of-body experience things,” given Roupp’s standing just last month.

Highly touted internally for the movement of his 12-to-6 curveball, the velocity of his sinker and the ability to command both pitches, Roupp received an invite to big-league spring training. But after being shut down last July when a disc slipped in his back, Roupp spent the first half of camp throwing bullpens and begging the coaching staff to get him into a game.

They couldn’t say no, and once they saw him against major-league hitters, they couldn’t keep him off the roster.

Posting a 2.25 ERA and striking out 13 batters in four Cactus League appearances, Roupp still couldn’t bring himself to believe he stood a chance at cracking the Opening Day roster. His 10 starts last year at Double-A Richmond were good ones, totaling a 1.74 ERA, but that’s all they were: 10 starts at Double-A.

When he was scratched from his start Tuesday in the final Bay Bridge exhibition, Roupp began to suspect something was happening.

But even when Melvin broke the news to him after the game, it still took him a moment to process reality.

“I don’t think I ever even thought about it,” Roupp said. “I thought I was either going to go back to Richmond or start the year at Triple-A.”

Roupp’s longterm path remains in the starting rotation. He possesses a four-seam fastball and a slider in addition to the sinker and curveball. But his two primary pitches proved to be such a lethal combination — and the Giants were in such need for bullpen innings — that he forced his way onto the 40- and 26-man rosters.

As the rest of the ballpark stood and sung “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” Roupp jogged in from the bullpen, relieving Kyle Harrison after his efficient six innings. Teammates at two previous minor-league stops, Harrison stuck around in the dugout to watch Roupp retire the side on 16 pitches.

“I had to stay for it. I had to watch him,” Harrison said. “Really proud of him. That guy works hard. He wasn’t nervous at all. Sky’s the limit for that kid. I thought he did great. He filled up the zone.”

In the postgame clubhouse, Roupp, in a flannel shirt and cowboy boots, posed with his No. 65 jersey. An authenticator from MLB was working to get him the baseball from his first out, a pop up to Thairo Estrada that was all Jurickson Profar could muster off a full-count curveball.

The next batter, Luis Campusano, attacked the first pitch he saw, another curveball, and lined it into left field. But Roupp rebounded, pitching around the one-out single by retiring the two left-handed pinch-hitters the Padres brought off the bench to gain the platoon advantage against him.

Ten of the 16 pitches Roupp threw were curveballs, mixing in a sinker that maxed out at 95 mph.

“First hitter, he throws a 3-2 curveball,” Melvin said. “So that kind of shows you how he feels about his stuff.”

The only thing he didn’t do was get a strikeout.

“He’s probably going to be upset about that,” Harrison smiled.

“Oh, yeah,” Roupp laughed, “definitely upset about that.”

“But no,” Harrison finished, “I don’t think he could care. To put up a zero in your big-league debut, I wish I could’ve done that.”

Another young arm

Not to be overlooked from Thursday’s season-opening loss, Erik Miller was even more impressive in his big-league debut.

The big 26-year-old lefty was optioned early in spring training but made the Opening Day roster nonetheless and was on the mound by the eighth inning of their first game. Miller needed only 11 pitches to retire the side in order, getting Eguy Rosario to whiff on a 98 mph fastball at the letters for his first big-league strikeout.

The fastball isn’t even Miller’s best pitch, which Joey Bart described as a “Bugs Bunny” changeup.

While Melvin said Miller was “really good,” even he was a little surprised to see the number on the radar gun.

“I’m not sure I’d seen 97 or 98 or whatever it was,” Melvin said. “I’m sure it’s in there. But pretty excitable in his first outing. It went really well. He’s got the ability to get righties out and lefties out.”