SAN FRANCCISCO —
It was just five lightning-fast at-bats, but considering how the Padres had patiently made mush of pitchers’ arms the previous four days, it was the strangest sight to see — on a night in which a misty fog blanketed a nearly empty ballpark with a malfunctioning giant video board that loomed blank and black next to a two-story baseball glove and a three-story fluorescent Coca-Cola bottle.
It got normal enough for long enough that the Padres were able to beat the Giants 5-3 on Tuesday at Oracle Park to improve to 4-1 at the start of a season for the first time since 1997.