The Giants’ bats are waking up, but it’s not enough to avoid a sweep against the Yankees

SAN FRANCISCO – The Giants are officially on the scoreboard. Now, what about the win column? One step at a time: They can try to grab the lead first.

The Giants pushed their season opener to Saturday. They had to do it at least three times to avoid being swept by the Yankees in their season opener.

The Yankees were already ahead when Matt Chapman singled home Jung Hoo Lee in the third inning, and the Giants never got closer in a 3-1 loss that dropped them to 0-3.

The Giants doubled their hits (eight) from their total through two games (four), but Tyler Mahle’s team’s first game ended after four innings. He threw 81 pitches and went 2-1.

San Francisco got more hits from Jung Hoo Lee and Rafael Devers, but Aaron Judge gave up the Yankees’ third run of the series and Ben Rice doubled the number of home runs the Giants had accumulated in 27 innings.

Heliot Ramos and Willy Adames homered to start the bottom of the ninth against Yankees closer David Bednar, allowing the Giants to bring a potential winning run to the plate. But Harrison Bader hit a foul tip and Patrick Bailey played into a double play.

The Giants put 12 men on but failed to take advantage, allowing the Yankees to go back and forth twice.

What does it mean

Tony Vitello went 0-3 as a major league manager, the worst start by a Giants skipper since Danny Ozark in 1984. The team’s 0-3 start at least comes with a very encouraging history.

When was the last time the Giants failed to win their first three games? 2012. That turned out OK.

By getting on the board in the third, the Giants avoided setting a franchise record for their longest scoring drought to start the season. It took them 20 innings to finally score a run, the same number of frames as the 1909 New York Giants.

Who is hot

Judge left the yard for the second time in as many games to give the Yankees a walk after the Giants lost 2-1 in their first game of the season.

Judge punished the second pitch he saw from Ryan Borucki with a solo shot that made it 3-1 in the top of the fifth. Vitello called the lefty for a tag team opportunity against Austin Wells and Trent Grisham, but it meant the judge had to face the lefty.

The Giants hit Judge twice in 13 at-bats, but both were home runs.

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Vitello said he planned to shake up the Blacks’ line-up after they went blank in both of their opening games, and he looked smart by removing Jung Hoo Lee from the forward spot.

Lee drove in the Giants’ first run of the season after leading off the third with a double down the right field line. Matt Chapman singled him home on a later hit.

Chapman was the only Giant to reach base in all three games of the series. Lee, Devers, Luis Arraez and Heliot Ramos all reached base multiple times in Saturday’s loss.

Who is not

Adames finally got a hit against Bednar in the bottom of the ninth, but the notoriously slow shortstop has gone 13 at-bats to start the season with five hits.

Adames scored a runner on third and less than two outs for the second time in the series, then got Devers out at third in the sixth inning. His single in the ninth gave the Giants runners on first and second with nobody out, but the rally was scoreless.

Next

The Giants are off on Sunday before their first road trip of the season against the Padres. They hit the road still wanting to hit their first home run.

Logan Webb is scheduled to make his second start of the season on Tuesday. Adrian Houser will make his first start for the Giants in the first game on Monday, and Landen Roupp will start the series finale on Wednesday.