Rookie Daniel Susac didn’t hit a home run in his first 44 major league games.
The San Francisco Giants’ catcher now has three in the past two games after his two-run blast Thursday night fueled his team’s 4-1 win over the San Diego Padres, giving them a nice start to a seven-game road trip.
Susac will try to keep his power surge going on Friday night when the teams continue their four-game weekend series in San Diego.
Given the starting job after Patrick Bailey was dealt to the Cleveland Guardians in May, Susac went 11-for-23 in his first 11 games but then slumped and suffered a back injury that forced him to the injured list.
He entered Wednesday’s game with the Milwaukee Brewers mired in a 4-for-36 skid. Then came the first two homers of his career, making him the first San Francisco player to belt his first two homers in the same game since pitcher Jim Gott did it on May 12, 1985. Gott hit only four career homers in 11 seasons.
“I knew it was going to come eventually,” Susac said of his long-ball stroke. “It was just putting in the work in the cage. I’m just trying to get back to the swing that I feel I came into this year with.”
Giants manager Tony Vitello said he wants to see Susac swing the bat with the kind of conviction he displayed in college and during his journey through the minors.
“When you’re kind of trying to stake your claim and keep your locker in there, sometimes guys alter who they are,” Vitello said. “I think he just needs to stay true to who he is.”
While Susac and the Giants aim for a third straight win, San Diego tries to start another winning streak. The Padres came into the series opener on Thursday with five consecutive victories before their offense was held to six hits by Robbie Ray and three relievers. They scored 27 total runs in the winning streak.
Left-hander Carson Whisenhunt (2-1, 4.60 ERA) will try to match Ray’s solid performance on Friday night. He last pitched on Sunday, absorbing a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels after permitting five hits and four runs over five innings with two walks and seven strikeouts. This will be his first career start against the Padres.
Bradgley Rodriguez (2-2, 2.33) is listed as the starter for the Giants, but he will serve as an opener. He has three starts among his 44 appearances.
Fellow right-hander German Marquez (4-2, 5.17) most likely will enter as a bulk-innings reliever out of the bullpen. Marquez’s last outing was July 24, when he lasted 2 1/3 innings in a short start during his team’s 4-2 win in Miami against the Marlins. He’s 5-13 with a 7.20 ERA in 22 career appearances (21 starts) against San Francisco.
One of those losses came March 31, when Marquez allowed four runs on eight hits and a walk in three innings against the Giants.
The Padres were at least able to save a good chunk of their bullpen for the weekend’s remainder after Randy Vasquez fired 4 2/3 scoreless innings of long relief in the series opener.
“He saved the rest of the pen for some success tomorrow, hopefully,” San Diego manager Craig Stammen said. “We were able to lose in a good manner. I hope he feels good that he might have set us up for the next few days.”
The outcome dropped San Diego two games behind the idle Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies for the final wild-card spot in the National League.
–Field Level Media
