San Francisco Giants Notes: Matt Moore and the Three Home-Run Hitters

The San Francisco Giants beat their archrivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers for the first time this year on Tuesday (does it really matter that it doesn’t count yet), led by Matt Moore and a trio of home runs.

Matt Moore was on the mound for the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, a sight that Giants’ fans saw thrice last year and will see countless more times over the remaining three years of Moore’s deal. His command was a bit spotty, another familiar sight from his brief time with the team last season, but he battled through it to hold the Dodgers scoreless in his three innings of work.

Moore allowed a pair of singles in the first inning, and a wild pitch put runners on second and third with only one out. The 27-year-old lefty struck out Yasmani Grandal for the second out, and then got Franklin Gutierrez to end the inning without giving up a run. He weaved his way through traffic again in the second, striking out former teammate Logan Forsythe with two on to close the frame. A walk led off the third inning, but Moore retired the next three batters in order to keep the scoreless tie in tact.

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Though it took 59 pitches (according to the broadcast team) to get through those three innings, Moore had his strikeout stuff working. He recorded five punchouts, including two on called third strikes. Moore recorded 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings last season with San Francisco, the first time he’d struck out more than a batter per inning since his rookie season in 2011.

The third spot in the rotation belongs to Moore already, and there will be a lot riding on him building off his stellar stretch run in 2016 with San Francisco. He has the stuff to be one of the top lefties in the game, but has to put it together and hone in with his command. Tuesday’s game was a good start, by stretching out with his pitch count and battling through some issues.

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The Giants hit three home runs against the Dodgers, with each coming off the bat of a player battling for a roster spot. The first longball came in the fifth inning, when Korean import Jae-gyun Hwang tied the game at two with a blast off Dodgers’ hurler Steve Geltz. For Hwang, it was his second home run of the spring, which, at the time, tied him for the team’s lead in homers.

Hwang is in his first spring on American soil after a long career in the KBO. There was expected to be some level of learning curve as he transitioned, but Hwang has played extremely well over the first couple weeks of spring games. He has five hits in 16 at-bats thus far, including his two home runs and a double. He has struck out four times as well, but just twice in his past 14 at-bats.

He’s also played a very nice third base as well, including make a diving stop on a grounder to his right and throwing on to first to save a pair of runs in the first inning Tuesday.

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San Francisco’s second home run of the day was another big one, coming off the bat of Mac Williamson in the sixth inning to put the Giants ahead 3-2. Like his big fly on Sunday, the 26-year-old right-handed hitter stroked it to right-center field.

With fellow left field hopeful Jarrett Parker going cold over the past week, the door is still open for Williamson to have a good spring and take the starting job. He still has minor league options remaining, something Parker doesn’t have, so he will have to really show out and grab the job. If he can continue to hit the ball hard like he has been (he also flied out to the warning track in the fourth inning), he has a chance.

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After watching Williamson and Hwang hit their second home runs of the spring, Chris Marrero (who entered the day tied for the team lead in home runs with Parker) took the lead in that race back. The big righty wasted little time in the seventh inning, smashing a Grant Dayton offering over the face in left field for his third dinger in Cactus League play. It was the Giants’ third home run in three innings, and was the final insurance run in a 4-2 victory.

Next: Jose Alguacil's Scary Injury

Marrero is proving to be a compelling player early in the spring. He has the power to be an impactful ballplayer, and it only helps his candidacy that he is playing the outfield a bit more lately. The 28-year-old will have to have a truly incredible spring to crack the opening day roster, but he looks like the kind of player that can be called up and contribute later in the year.

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