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SF Giants lose to Padres 16-11 in dinger-filled game in Mexico City

In the first MLB regular-season game in Mexico, the SF Giants fell to the San Diego Padres even though they blasted five home runs.

Marc Delucchi

SF Giants lose to Padres 16-11 in dinger-filled game in Mexico City
SF Giants lose to Padres 16-11 in dinger-filled game in Mexico City /
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The SF Giants lost the first MLB regular-season game in Mexico City on Saturday to the San Diego Padres 16-11. In arguably the most hitter-friendly environment the league has ever seen, both teams combined to hit 11 home runs in an outpouring of offense.

With so many offensive fireworks, it's probably not worth going into too much detail about the Giants pitching struggles. Mexico City is at such significant altitude, thousands of feet higher than Coors Field in Denver, Colorado, and the Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú lacks the massive dimensions a stadium would need to compensate. Making matters worse on Saturday, there was nearly a 10 mph wind blowing out to right field.

Sean Manaea and Jakob Junis combined to allow 10 runs (nine earned) on 10 hits, five walks, and five home runs across 4.2 innings of work with seven strikeouts. Out of the bullpen, Taylor Rogers was the only Giants pitcher to not surrender a run during his appearance. His brother Tyler allowed a go-ahead two-run homer to Manny Machado in the bottom of the seventh before Scott Alexander allowed the Padres to score four insurance runs in the eighth.

Making matters worse for Giants pitchers was catcher Blake Sabol (Giants #33 prospect) turning in his worst defensive performance of the season. Sabol was only charged with one passed ball, but a trio of wild pitches and even a throwing error on third baseman J.D. Davis all had at least some blame that could have been placed on him. Sabol has done an excellent job quelling concerns about his defensive viability behind the plate so far this season, but the questions surrounding his unique journey to catching popped up several times on Saturday night. In such a hitter-friendly environment, the Giants could not afford to give away so many free bases.

On the bright side, almost every Giants hitter was able to improve their numbers on the season. San Francisco scored 11 runs on 13 hits, five walks, and five home runs.

Veteran shortstop Brandon Crawford would leave the game with left calf tightness in the fourth inning, something obviously worth tracking over the next couple of days. However, he also recorded the first MLB regular-season homer in Mexico in the top of the third inning. Crawford had a home run down the right-field line called foul after a replay review, but he left no doubt on the next pitch from Padres starter Joe Musgrove.

LaMonte Wade Jr. immediately followed Crawford with a solo homer of his own, the first of four sets of back-to-back homers that would be hit by both teams over the course of the day. Wade reached base three times over the course of the evening, drawing a pair of walks.

Trailing 5-2 in the top of the fourth, prominent offseason acquisition Mitch Haniger clobbered his first career home run in a Giants uniform, tying the game at five. Musgrove threw a breaking ball on the outside part of the plate that stayed just high enough for Haniger to drive it deep into the left-field bleachers.

The Giants loaded the bases later in the inning just in time for infielder Thairo Estrada to clear the bases with a double. Estrada finished the day 4-for-5, recording the second four-hit game of his career.

The Padres eventually rebuilt a 10-8 lead, but Sabol made up for some of his defensive mistakes with a game-tying two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh. Sabol's defensive future will obviously have a huge impact on his big-league viability, but his OPS is just shy of .800 after his fifth home run of the season.

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Then, David Villar finished off the Giants second back-to-back homer set to give them an 11-10 lead. It would be the last run the Giants scored, and last time they would have the lead in the game.

The SF Giants and San Diego Padres will return to Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú on Sunday to wrap up this unique two-game series. I have a feeling that the hitters on both teams are much more excited to return than the pitchers. Giants righty Alex Cobb is scheduled to get the start against Yu Darvish.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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