Giants’ dominant pitching staff gives Tony Vitello win in first game vs. Dodgers

SAN FRANCISCO — Tony Vitello had a day off at home on Monday, and it ended up being exactly what you might expect from someone who might already have the most impressive cell phone contact list of any MLB manager. Vitello had a nice dinner at a new restaurant downtown and then watched Dave Chappelle perform at Punch Line Comedy Club. The latter part of the night, though, came after an impromptu decision to cancel an Uber back home and stay out. Originally, Vitello’s Monday was full of work at the ballpark. He still hasn’t spent much time exploring the city. “I’ve been in hiding,” he joked Tuesday afternoon. “I’m holding out for some more wins.”The start of the Vitello Era hasn’t completely gone as planned, but there’s an easy way to win over the crowd. Vitello’s Giants did it on Tuesday with a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, and if Vitello wanders out for lunch on Wednesday, he’ll probably find that the Giants fans he meets are pretty pleased with the way he handled his first taste of the rivalry.The Giants scored three runs in the first with some help from Dodgers defenders and then held on for eight innings. Landen Roupp did the heavy lifting, throwing a career-high 106 pitches, but the bullpen was just as important, and that’s been a pleasant surprise. The group was viewed as the clear weak spot of the roster heading into the 2026 MLB season, and questions remain about why president of baseball operations Buster Posey and general manager Zack Minasian weren’t more aggressive in pursuing at least one big-time relief arm. But it’s also hard to argue with the recent results. The bullpen allowed just two earned runs over the final six games of the road trip, and five Giants relievers combined for four shutout innings Tuesday. The final one to take the mound was Ryan Walker, who blew a save on Saturday and then found that his manager publicly had his back. Two games later, Walker was handed a 3-1 lead, and he didn’t need to be told that it wouldn’t be wise to mess around. The fourth batter due up in the inning was Shohei Ohtani, a thought that briefly flashed across his mind when he went 3-2 to No. 9 hitter Alex Freeland. “I was like, ‘All right, we’re going to get this done, because I don’t want to see that guy in the box,'” Walker said. “There’s no fear there, but he’s a good hitter and you’ve got to make your pitches and I didn’t want to make it harder on myself than I had to.”Vitello has yet to name Walker his closer, or even indicate he wants to name a closer at any point. He has talked mostly about using everyone in every role, and he has played the matchups in his first month in the big leagues. But in the ninth, there was no lefty to turn to if Walker faltered. That’s because Vitello burned all three of them as soon as he had to go to his bullpen, a worthwhile gamble on a night when the Dodgers started six lefties and a switch-hitter. For Vitello, it was simple. “You’re just trying to win,” he said of the usage. Ryan Borucki, Matt Gage and Erik Miller got him through most of the sixth and seventh, and Keaton Winn struck out pinch-hitter Will Smith to end the eighth. Walker had a 1-2-3 ninth, picking up his second save. He struck out a pair on perfectly placed sinkers and certainly looked a lot more like the 2024 version of himself, not the guy who fought inconsistency last year. “It just goes back to the work I put in in the offseason to get my stuff back,” Walker said. “My two-seamer and slider are exactly where we want them to be and exactly how they were in ’24. I’m happy with where it’s at. Now it’s go time, do you know what I mean? I’ve got the stuff and now it’s time to get the job done whenever (I’m) called.”Coming into the year, Walker was the closest thing the Giants had to a locked-in late-innings reliever. But Winn, Gage and Caleb Kilian all have thrown well, and Miller’s stuff has taken a step forward, making him one of the tougher lefties in the league. Borucki had some early stumbles but was used perfectly against the lefty-heavy Dodgers. The bullpen appears to be coming together, and Miller said the group is eager to “prove people wrong.”“I think a lot of guys are pitching with a little more of an edge,” Miller said. “Not to quote what I said (in Cincinnati), but it’s maybe a little ‘F you’ on the mound.”That’s a perfect match for this manager, who is still finding his way with some in-game decisions but has generally seemed to have a good feel for bullpen usage. Asked about it Tuesday, Vitello credited his four pitching coaches, including longtime big leaguer Jesse Chavez, who has done a nice job of helping some relievers adjust to new roles. The group held tough against baseball’s best team, and did so in front of a sellout crowd. When Walker froze Freeland and left Ohtani in the on-deck circle, Vitello was 1-0 against the Dodgers, but he tried to downplay the significance. Perhaps there will be a time in September when it’s more head-to-head. Right now, the Giants are just happy to be back on the right track regardless of who is on the other side.“I think we’re just hunting for wins in general,” Vitello said. Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

Giants’ dominant pitching staff gives Tony Vitello win in first game vs. Dodgers

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