Joe Panik gets this game going early!#SFGiants pic.twitter.com/HhPKdPAl6y
— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) May 28, 2019
The Giants are notoriously bad at scoring in the first inning. On Tuesday, Joe Panik decided to try put a dent in the massive 53-11 run deficit (now 53-12) that the team has accrued in the first inning this season.
With the first pitch of the game, Miami Marlins starter Tyler Richards threw a 91-mph fastball rising high in the zone and Panik scorched it to right field just as the few in attendance at the game were getting settled.
Duane Kuiper was on the call, “The first pitch of the ball game is a high drive to right… it… is… outta here! And on one pitch, it’s one-nothing, Giants.”
This comes after an abysmal series versus the Arizona Diamondbacks in which the Giants were outscored 34-8 over three games and 5-3 in the first inning (Panik’s run essentially secures the best first-inning stretch the Giants have had this season). It was a series which manager Bruce Bochy termed “the worst of the season.”
“That’s the worst series of the year,” Bruce Bochy said, and if he turns out to be wrong, well…
— Andrew Baggarly (@extrabaggs) May 26, 2019
At the very least, the Giants don’t trail the Miami Marlins after the first inning of this three-game series, leading 1-0.
For more Giants videos click here.