SAN DIEGO — After seven games on the road to start the season, the reigning World Series champion Giants play their home opener at AT&T Park Monday afternoon (1:30 p.m.) against the Colorado Rockies.
But the honor of pitching the home opener on the day the 2014 Championship Banner is raised falls to none of last fall’s heroes.
Right-hander Chris Heston, who turned 27 Saturday, will become only the second rookie in San Francisco Giants history to pitch the home opener. The first was right-hander Alan Fowlkes in 1982.
Heston was not even on the Giants’ Opening Day roster this season.He was flown in from Triple-A after right-hander Matt Cain went on the disabled list last Tuesday with a right flexor strain.
Heston picked up his first major league win in Phoenix last Wednesday in the Giants’ 5-2 win — holding Arizona to two unearned runs on three hits over six innings. He issued two walks while striking out five. It was Heston’s fourth major league appearance.
Heston started San Francisco’s regular-season finale last season in place of Madison Bumgarner, who was skipped to work in the wild-card game against Pittsburgh.