The Giants had planned to unveil their revamped lineup against left-handed pitchers on Opening Day.\n\nRight-handed hitters
Kapler said third-base coach Ron Wotus, the lone holdover from Bruce Bochy’s staff, popped open a bottle of wine and prepared a toast for the team in the clubhouse after the game.\n\n“We were just excited,” starter
Webb was one of two rookie pitchers who played a key role in helping Kapler notch his milestone win. The 23-year-old yielded one run over four-plus innings in his first start of the season before giving way to lefty
Improving their effectiveness against lefties was a clear offseason focus for the Giants, who are expected to embrace more platoons this year. They signed Flores to a two-year, $6 million deal and reunited with veteran Hunter Pence, who posted a 1.015 OPS against southpaws during his All-Star campaign with the Rangers last year.\n\n• Kevin Gausman: 'No problem' with nebulous role\n\nRuf, who spent the last three seasons playing in South Korea, also joined the Giants on a Minor League deal. He said one of the reasons he chose to sign with the Giants was because they played in the National League West, which is home to lefties like Kershaw, Wood and Julio Urías of the Dodgers, Madison Bumgarner and Robbie Ray of the D-backs, Joey Lucchesi of the Padres and Kyle Freeland of the Rockies.\n\n“It was appealing just because I know the division,” Ruf said earlier this month. “I know there are a lot of lefties. I knew I would possibly be able to carve out a role on this team, and I was really excited for that.”
Ruf earned the starting nod at first base on Saturday, marking his first appearance in a Major League game since Oct. 1, 2016, with the Phillies. After Slater led off the first inning with a walk and advanced to second on a groundout by Flores, Ruf put the Giants on the board with an RBI single to right-center field.\n\nThe Dodgers tied it on Justin Turner’s RBI double off Webb in the bottom of the first, but the Giants continued to pressure Wood, loading the bases on a double by
“They have a solid lineup against left-handed pitchers, so it was a little more difficult preparing for them,” Wood said. “I kind of got away from my general plan of how aggressive I am. We threw too much soft stuff early. They had some good at-bats, drawing walks. Overall, just getting away from what I do best in terms of pounding the zone and attacking early. I felt better in the third inning, got back to doing what I like to do.”\n\nSan Francisco expanded its lead with a leadoff homer from Flores in the third -- his first with the Giants -- and a two-run double from Solano off Dodgers right-hander Dennis Santana in the fourth.
The Giants will likely roll out a similar lineup against Urías as they go for a split of this four-game series, though they may be without Slater, who departed the game after sustaining a right hip contusion while making an incredible catch on a flyball off the bat of Corey Seager in the sixth.\n\n“We're going to evaluate him tomorrow,” Kapler said. “Right now he's day to day.”
The Giants’ bullpen again looked shaky, but it managed to survive a late rally from Los Angeles. An error by Solano opened the door for the Dodgers to score two unearned runs against left-hander