The New York Yankees have secured victories in the first two games of their series against the San Francisco Giants, shutting out the Giants 7-0 on Opening Day and 3-0 in their subsequent Friday matchup. This historic series has featured the first recorded Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge in MLB history and a prolonged scoreless streak for the Giants offense.
Opening Day: Yankees 7, Giants 0
The New York Yankees defeated the San Francisco Giants 7-0 on Opening Day at Oracle Park. This marked the Yankees' fifth consecutive Opening Day win, while the Giants recorded their sixth Opening Day loss in the past eight years.
Game Highlights
Yankees pitcher Max Fried retired 15 of the last 16 batters he faced after initial challenges. Giants pitcher Logan Webb allowed seven runs over five innings.
The Yankees scored five runs in the second inning, with six consecutive players reaching base against Webb. Ryan McMahon and Trent Grisham each recorded two RBI hits during the inning. Two additional runs were scored in the fifth inning, one following a throwing error. The Yankees recorded nine hits against Webb, six of which occurred on the first two pitches of at-bats.
The Giants managed only three hits in the game.
The game marked the managerial debut loss for Giants manager Tony Vitello.
Historic ABS Challenge
During the fourth inning, Yankees player José Caballero initiated the first Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge in baseball history. The challenged strike call was upheld, making the challenge unsuccessful. This was the only ABS challenge recorded during the game.
Player Spotlight: Aaron Judge
Aaron Judge went 0 for 5 with four strikeouts. This marked the third instance of a Yankees player recording four strikeouts on Opening Day and the first for a reigning MVP.
The remainder of the Yankees lineup achieved a .323 batting average, going 10 for 31.
Friday's Game: Yankees 3, Giants 0
The New York Yankees defeated the San Francisco Giants 3-0 on Friday, extending their shutout streak against the Giants.
Game-Changing Moments
Aaron Judge hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, breaking a scoreless tie and ending an 0-for-7 start to his season. Prior to the home run, Judge had a strike call overturned from a strike to a ball by the automated system (ABS) after a challenge during the same at-bat. The 405-foot drive, with an exit velocity of 109.1 mph, was Judge's fourth career home run against pitcher Robbie Ray (0-1).
Giancarlo Stanton followed with a home run two batters later off Giants reliever José Buttó.
Right-hander Cam Schlittler (1-0) earned the win for the Yankees, and David Bednar secured his first save.
Judge received boos from the sellout crowd of 40,273. This reaction followed his decision in December 2022 to sign a nine-year, $360 million contract with the New York Yankees as a free agent, rather than joining the Giants in his home state of California.
Giants' Offensive Struggles Continue
The Giants recorded only one hit in the game, a second-inning double by Heliot Ramos.
This marked the first time a team has been shut out with five or fewer combined hits over the first two games of a season.
The team has now gone 18 consecutive innings without scoring to start the season, their longest such streak since 2019. The franchise's longest streak since 1901 was 20 consecutive scoreless innings in 1909, according to Sportradar.
Upcoming Series Finale
Both the Yankees and Giants had an off-day before resuming their series on Friday night. For Saturday's series finale, RHP Will Warren is scheduled to pitch for the Yankees, facing Giants RHP Tyler Mahle, who will make his San Francisco debut.