SAN DIEGO — When it was all over and the Giants gathered on the mound for handshakes and back pats after a 7-0 win over the Padres, some of them started to understand how strange the starting pitcher’s line actually was.
Chris Stratton allowed one hit in seven innings, and it was a pinch-hit single by starting pitcher Clayton Richard, who was batting only because Bryan Mitchell had struggled so badly that he didn’t even make it to his first plate appearance. Richard became the first player since Pittsburgh’s Mace Brown in 1935 to enter the game as a reliever and get his team’s only hit.