Making his first big league start in Thursday’s 7-2 win against the Mets, the Giants catcher (and No. 21 prospect per MLB Pipeline) laced a single to right-center field in his first at-bat against lefty David Peterson, eliciting an excited roar from the Susac family sitting adjacent to the press box — a fanfare that would repeat three more times as the night progressed.
Facing Peterson leading off the bottom of the second, Susac slapped a curveball the other way, tallying his first hit in his first at-bat at the ballpark he grew up frequenting as a native of Roseville, roughly a two-hour drive from San Francisco (give or take).
Susac’s quick attack exemplified the Giants’ approach against Peterson, who faced 11 hitters through two innings but only registered 24 pitches in doing so. The lefty was ultimately driven from the game after issuing a one-out walk to Jung Hoo Lee in the fifth.
Susac added another first-pitch single in the third, drew a four-pitch walk in the fifth, issued and won an Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) challenge in the sixth and cracked a third single in the seventh, putting a bow on a dream of a first full game.
When it was all said and done, the Giants secured manager Tony Vitello’s inaugural victory at his new home ballpark — another first in his young managerial career.
Giants left-hander Robbie Ray gutted it out for 5 1/3 innings, spotted to a quick 3-0 lead in the first on the strength of a Luis Arraez RBI triple, a Matt Chapman RBI double and the benefit of a fielding error by Peterson on an attempted 1-3 putout from first baseman Mark Vientos.
Ray wasn’t at his sharpest early, needing 59 pitches to get through his first three frames, but the 34-year-old retired his last five batters, departing with one out in the sixth on 96 pitches.