\u2014 MLB (@MLB) April 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The Giants dugout was a smiling, rail-slapping scene. So was Section 119, where the Susac contingent jostled their red-cheeked toddlers and danced in the aisles. The crowd got louder and louder with each of the three hits and cheered the triple as if treated to a too-good-to-be-true encore.<\/p>\n The only person in the ballpark who didn\u2019t appear to be loose and laughing was Susac, who had things like secondary leads and delivery times to worry about. He had one more inning to catch, too. Even a half-hour after the Giants snapped out of their funk with a satisfying victory, and Susac had a moment to reflect on the wildly successful start to his big league career, there wasn\u2019t a hint of gee-whiz wonder in his postgame comments.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t register much of a reaction when told that he nearly matched the major league record of six hits in six at-bats to start a career, which was accomplished by Boston Red Sox outfielder Ted Cox in 1977 \u2014 a distinction that remains fondly recalled across New England to this day. Susac is the only other major league player in the expansion era (beginning in 1969) to begin his career 5 for 5.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s just kind of always been my personality, just kind of an older soul,\u201d said Susac, who was 3 for 3 with a walk<\/a> in his first major league start Thursday against the New York Mets. \u201cSo it\u2019s on to the next. Biggest thing today was Robbie Ray. He was so good, just impressive. It\u2019s always great to see him execute his plan.\u201d<\/p>\n As noble as that might sound, it\u2019s not every day that a Giants player accomplishes something that hasn\u2019t been done since McCovey, whose 4-for-4 start to his career against future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, and the promise that his debut inspired, is part of the franchise\u2019s core canon. Susac\u2019s debut also might have rekindled memories of another irrepressible young catcher\u2019s first impression, when Buster Posey (who had debuted in September 2009), got promoted for good on May 29, 2010, and rapped out RBI singles in three of his first four at-bats.<\/p>\n Posey was just as stoic that day, too \u2014 up to the moment when he got that third hit, first base coach Roberto Kelly leaned over and said, \u201cIt\u2019s that easy, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was great. It was fun. It\u2019s humbling,\u201d a 23-year-old Posey said that night, when asked about the crowd\u2019s embrace. \u201cThat\u2019s the time I have to slow myself down because it can get you going a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n Susac, after two games any rookie could only dream about, did not need to slow himself down. For all that helium, he didn\u2019t give off the notion that his head was in the clouds.<\/p>\n \u201cMy whole goal this offseason was just to be consistent with everything I do every day,\u201d Susac said. \u201cIf I\u2019m in the lineup, I\u2019ll play as hard as I can, and if not, keep staying consistent with my practice and work. So whenever my name is called, I\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Daniel Susac started his career 5-for-5 and is hitting .857 on the season. (Ed Szczepanski \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n The Giants looked far more ready and able than the team that got off to a 3-8 start and ranked last in the major leagues with 2.73 runs per game. They figured to have a difficult matchup against Sanchez, a left-hander and runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award last season who puts press boxes on no-hitter watch from the first pitch of the night.<\/p>\n So naturally, the Giants piled up an 11-hit snowdrift before chasing him in the sixth inning. Leadoff hitter Willy Adames doubled in his first two at-bats. Matt Chapman made the Phillies pay for an error with an RBI double in the fifth. There were missed opportunities in the early innings \u2014 a double-play grounder ended a potential rally in the second inning and another fizzled in the third when Adames was thrown out trying to score on Matt Chapman\u2019s single \u2014 but the hits kept coming.<\/p>\n Sanchez had given up 11 hits in a start just once\u00a0\u2014 he had a 12-hit outing in 2024 against Arizona \u2014 and what made the Giants\u2019 attack most impressive is that eight of their hits came in two-strike counts. Last year, Sanchez held hitters to a .130 average in at-bats that got to two strikes.<\/p>\n Nobody could appreciate the difficulty of the assignment more than Giants second baseman Luis Arraez. The three-time batting champion entered the game with an 0-for-12 career record against Sanchez \u2014 tied with Clayton Kershaw for the most at-bats against any pitcher without collecting a hit. It was an 0-for-14 streak after Arraez managed a tapper in front of the plate that scored Adames in the first inning and another comebacker that advanced a runner in the third.<\/p>\n It was sweet redemption in the fifth when Arraez took a lunging swing at a slider away and poked it to center field for an RBI single.<\/p>\n \u201cI got one!\u201d said Arraez, beaming. \u201cHe\u2019s nasty, man. I like to compete but he\u2019s one of the best lefties I\u2019m going to face. I feel I have to do something special. He didn\u2019t miss the spot. He just threw a slider to the corner and I hit it to the middle. That\u2019s what I\u2019m looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s what everyone in the lineup was looking to do.<\/p>\n \u201cTry to hit it to the middle,\u201d Arraez said. \u201cWe put in the work together and we tried to put the ball in play and compete. Do the little things, put the ball in play and see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n For last year\u2019s feast-or-famine lineup, the home run dictated whether their bellies would be full. When the Giants weren\u2019t hitting them, they weren\u2019t scoring. So Tuesday night\u2019s 11-hit performance against Sanchez might be a good sign that they\u2019ll be better equipped to win on nights when they don\u2019t set off the steam cannons.<\/p>\n Susac\u2019s hits? They came on an 0-2 sinker, a 3-2 sinker and a 2-2 fastball down the middle. All two-strike hits. That\u2019s a big change for a young hitter and 2022 first-round pick whose proclivity for strikeouts in the minor leagues compelled the A\u2019s to leave him unprotected from the Rule 5 draft this past December.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of it has to do with the offseason changes I made,\u201d said Susac, who worked with two former Giants \u2014 his brother, Andrew, and outfielder Zach Green, who had an eight-game cameo in 2019 \u2014 to refine his approach over the winter. \u201cWe were really talking about how, growing up, my strength was the opposite side of the field, and getting back to that. Pull the ball when I get thrown in there, but taking what they give me as well.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always nice to know how you stack up against some of the best in the game. Sanchez is a really good pitcher, and to be able to work some good at bats off him, it\u2019s obviously a good conference boost.\u201d<\/p>\n Daniel Susac is putting up Willie McCovey numbers \ud83e\udd2f pic.twitter.com\/fyUtP98k8o<\/a><\/p>\n![\"San](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/USATSI_28682077-scaled-e1775636092665.jpg\")
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