Crawford, Pederson put on power display as Giants hold off Yankees

Evan WEbEck

BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

NEW YORK — It took 13 innings of baseball in 2023 for the San Francisco Giants to score their first run, and it didn’t take much longer for them to claim their first lead, too.

After being shut out on Opening Day and blanked through the first three innings Saturday, Joc Pederson and Brandon Crawford woke up the offense in a big way, leading them to a 7-5 win that evened their record back to .500 after two games.

It wasn’t without stress, though, as an erratic Camilo Doval allowed a run to score in the ninth inning and loaded the bases with two walks and committed two pitch clock violations before Crawford slickly fielded a chopper from Giancarlo Stanton to start a game-ending double play.

Before first pitch, Crawford emerged from the dugout and headed to home plate. He was met there by Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, who is married to his sister, Amy, and the brothers-in-law exchanged the day’s lineup cards and posed for a photo.

It was a nice moment, but Crawford was likely happier to see Cole at home plate than on the mound again.

The assignment Saturday proved slightly easier, after Cole struck out 11 over six innings and didn’t allow a run in the Giants’ season-opening loss. With Carlos Rodón sidelined with a mild forearm strain, the Yankees turned instead to

State and the city of San Diego on Monday night.”

Butler said he was told to “go downhill” – to the rim – but was blocked. He found a shot he was comfortable with, a midrange jumper, and hit it.

“I’m just so happy that we’re in this position and have a chance to win a national championship,”

Butler said.

The Aztecs trailed by, gulp, 14 midway through the second half after a technical foul turned into a five-point play for the Owls.

They could and probably should have taken the lead, but free throws – that old bugaboo – bit them at the most inopportune time. In the final seven minutes, they were 4 of 12, although they stayed in the game by grabbing offensive rebounds on four of those misses.

The Aztecs will take on the winner of the second Final Four game between Miami and Connecticut. The final of that one was not available at press time.