5-0 win<\/a> over the Philadelphia Phillies. \u201cBeing released in 2018, and then now coming back and getting my first win. I\u2019ve had small stints with other teams and I was maybe on the hook for one or two, but never got it. Now, having an actual decision next to my name other than a loss is a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\nGage entered for starter Tyler Mahle in the top of the sixth with one on and two out, tasked with facing the left-handed hitting Brandon Marsh. With the count at 1-2, Gage elevated a four-seam fastball that Marsh couldn\u2019t touch, stranding the runner and maintaining the scoreless tie.<\/p>\n
When Rafael Devers hit a go-ahead, three-run home run in the bottom half of the frame, Gage instantly realized he was in line for the first win of his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like, \u2018Now go out, get your job done. I probably have only two hitters, so go attack them,\u2019\u201d Gage said.<\/p>\n
Gage retired the first batter he faced in the top of the seventh, then was pulled by manager Tony Vitello after allowing a single to Otto Kemp. Right-hander Caleb Kilian, Gage\u2019s replacement, made things interesting after walking Trea Turner, but Kilian rebounded by striking out Kyle Schwarber and getting Bryce Harper to ground out and end the threat.<\/p>\n
Right-hander Blade Tidwell followed up Kilian by pitching a scoreless eighth, then left-hander Erik Miller secured the first win of Gage\u2019s career with a scoreless ninth. Gage\u2019s host family from his time in the Cape Cod League was in attendance, making the trip out to San Francisco from the East Coast.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he\u2019s getting his just due,\u201d Vitello said at the start of his postgame press conference. \u201cI know everybody\u2019s excited for him because he\u2019s a guy from day one, you could tell is such a good hang. That presence kind of carries over in the game. Literally good with any situation. I know if he\u2019s available, there\u2019s a great chance he\u2019s going to throw somewhere in there. It\u2019s just a matter of where we see fit, but he got a big out for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
This milestone would\u2019ve still been meaningful for Gage if he had achieved it with any other team, but the moment was especially significant because he got to experience it with the Giants.<\/p>\n
Gage, 33, was drafted by the Giants in the 10th round of the 2014 MLB draft (Logan Webb was drafted in the fourth round). He spent five seasons in the organization before being released, setting him off on a long and winding road that saw him pitch in independent ball and the Mexican League.<\/p>\n
The left-hander signed a minor league contract with the Giants last July after being designated for assignment by the Detroit Tigers and experienced his first extended run of being on a major league roster. All told, Gage posted a 3.19 ERA with 27 strikeouts over 31 combined innings with the Giants and Tigers. This spring, he earned his first-ever spot on an Opening Day roster.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really surprised I didn\u2019t cry just because it was my first Opening Day,\u201d Gage said of getting the news. \u201cMy heart was beating out of my chest. But during the national anthem and the flyover on Opening Night versus the Yankees, I definitely teared up on the line.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with Gage, outfielder Jared Oliva<\/a> enjoyed another meaningful moment of his own, collecting his first hit in a major league game since July 21, 2021.<\/p>\n\u201cWhen you think about it that way, it makes it a little bit more cool,\u201d Oliva said. \u201cIn the moment, I was just thinking get a good pitch to hit. \u2026 I\u2019ll probably reflect bit more. My parents probably texted me too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 It started with beer. Then came the condiments. Mustard. Ketchup. Hot sauce. Japanese barbecue sauce.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2276],"tags":[5,2178,2291,4,1586,66,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-671333","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-draft","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-major-league-baseball-draft","11":"tag-mlb","12":"tag-mlb-draft","13":"tag-san-francisco-giants","14":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116372436644139148","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}