The Rivalry That Shaped Baseball: Unveiling the Untold Story of Two Legendary Pitchers

Unfortunately, you can probably tell that this is a setup for something less happy — the proverbial other hand of the young pitching performances. Which brings us to the third inning, when Carson Whisenhunt took the mound. Whisenhunt had a hot-and-cold act in his first game of the spring, pitching one dominant inning and then falling apart in the next. In this game, unfortunately, he skipped past the first act.

Whisenhunt allowed a single to Jarred Kelenic on the first pitch he threw, and it was a moment that would, unfortunately, set the tone. He was able to get a fairly soft ground ball from Kelenic, hit right to the shortstop position. But with the Giants shifting, the ball found a hole for a tough-luck, seeing-eye single.

That was bad luck, but the rest of the outing was self-inflicted. After striking out the next batter, Whisenhunt allowed a 106.3-mph double to Korey Lee to score the first run. With two outs, Acuña scorched a 106.6-mph single for a second run.

Still, Whisenhunt got through the inning, and was awarded a second one. He started it by walking old friend LaMonte Wade Jr., then allowed a double to Lenyn Sosa. Immediate trouble. A sacrifice fly scored a third run, and then Kelenic again struck, this time not needing the shift to help him out: he smoked a 110.6-mph double — the hardest-hit ball of the day — to score the fourth and final run that Whisenhunt would allow. He would strike out the next batter, then get pulled from the game.