Chris Heston Dazzles For First Career Win
The season’s first series has been a weird one for the San Francisco Giants. The scheduled starters for the three-game set with the Arizona Diamondbacks were Madison Bumgarner, Jake Peavy, and Matt Cain, but only Bumgarner, like the rock he is, took the mound as slated. Instead, Peavy has dealt with a back issue, and Cain found himself on the disabled list for the fifth time in three seasons with a strained flexor tendon in his right arm.
The Giants came away victorious to open the year behind another excellent performance from Bumgarner, but Ryan Vogelsong struggled in game two, giving up seven runs in just 4.2 innings. Heading into game three, the Giants were in desperate need of a strong pitching performance from someone not from Hickory, North Carolina.
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Enter Chris Heston, who gave the Giants exactly what they asked for. The 26-year-old right hander, who celebrates his 27th birthday on Friday, had just three previous major league appearances and one start, but that was all in the past as Heston proved that he can be relied upon while the Giants need him.
The adrenaline was pumping early for Heston, who posted a 5.06 ERA last season. He plunked the first batter of the game for Arizona, A.J. Pollock, and uncorked an errant pickoff throw to first to allow Pollock to move over to third with no one out. The second batter, Chris Owings, grounded out to second base, scoring the run and giving the Diamondbacks an early 1-0 lead.
After that, Heston found a rhythm, and he stayed in it. In his first matchup with Arizona’s all-world first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, Heston set him down on strikes, catching the low and outside corner with a perfectly placed fastball for strike three.
After the first batter of the game reached, Heston retired 10 batters in a row, until walking Goldschmidt in the fourth inning. David Peralta followed the walk with a base hit, and another walk to Jake Lamb loaded the bases. Heston would work out of the jam by forcing Gerald Laird to pop out in foul territory.
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The only other run allowed by Heston came in the sixth inning, when the ever-present Goldschmidt doubled to lead off the inning. A passed ball moved him to third, and another passed ball, which was initially ruled a wild pitch, scored him.
Heston took the mound again in the seventh, but did not throw a pitch, as manager Bruce Bochy waited for a pinch-hitter announcement to get a favorable reliever matchup. He left to a nice ovation from the San Francisco fans in Arizona.
When all was said and done, Heston threw six innings, allowing just two runs, neither of which were earned, on three hits and two walks, combined with five strikeouts. His fastball was sharp, and his breaking pitches had very good movement. Of the three starters so far for the Giants, Heston’s stuff has been the best.
The bullpen pitched the final three innings, and Jean Machi, Sergio Romo, and Santiago Casilla combined to allow two hits with a pair of strikeouts.
Heston’s excellent 2015 debut has pushed him a more permanent role, at least for the short-term. Bochy said after the game that Heston will keep his turn in the rotation, stating “we’re not moving him. We need him right now. It was a nice shot in the arm for us.”
Heston’s emotions were also clear in the postgame interview, as he was “on Cloud Nine right now”, and “ecstatic”.
Heston was originally slated to pitch the season opener for the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats. Instead, Heston is now on track to pitch the Giants’ home opener on Monday.
There was also some good news that came before the game. Peavy, who has been dealing with the back issue, had his SI joint popped into place by trainers, and threw a lengthy bullpen session. Things went so well that Peavy has been penciled in as the starter for Sunday’s series finale against the San Diego Padres.
Brandon Belt was also listed on the lineup card for the game, but was not used. He took batting practice, and he may be available to start this weekend, and off the bench earlier than that.