The Giants plan on left-hander Kyle Harrison pitching at Oracle Park for a long, long time. His first two innings in front of the home crowd Monday couldn’t have gone much better.
Harrison struck out the side in the first inning, mowing down Cincinnati Reds sluggers Noelvi Marte, Nick Senzel and Elly De La Cruz in order on 15 pitches. He whiffed all three batters on a four-seam fastball.
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Harrison didn’t stop there. The 22-year-old also fanned Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand to start the second inning, becoming the first Giants starting pitcher to open a game with five straight strikeouts since Randy Johnson in 2009.
He nearly notched a perfect first trip through the Reds' lineup until Luke Maile -- batting in the eighth spot -- singled on a ground ball up the middle in the third.
Through three complete innings, Harrison registered seven strikeouts with one hit, no runs and no walks allowed.
The rookie, who yielded two earned runs and whiffed five batters across 3 1/3 innings in his major league debut last week against the Philadelphia Phillies, is putting together a home debut to remember.
