Drew Pomeranz feels good with progress, velocity in Giants debut

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LOS ANGELES -- The last time Drew Pomeranz was at Dodger Stadium, he stayed late into the night. Pomeranz was part of the Red Sox team that clinched the World Series here last October, and after his start Monday, he marveled at how clean the clubhouse looked. 

That clincher apparently was one hell of a party, then. 

"It was ... it was ... it was pretty good," Pomeranz said, smiling. 

The vibes carried over, and Pomeranz was so fired up to be starting Monday, and making his Giants debut, that he felt he almost lost control early on. He needed 44 pitches to get through the first two innings and the Dodgers fouled 12 of them off. Pomeranz kept leaving pitches up in the zone and they kept getting sprayed back into the seats.

"I was throwing some angry baseballs out there," he said. 

Eventually, he settled in, though, and his first start in orange and black proved to be solid. In five innings, Pomeranz gave up two earned -- on two homers -- and struck out six. It was not spectacular, but it left him feeling pretty good about where he's headed. Pomeranz said he felt this was the hardest he has thrown in over a year, and he was right. 

The fastball maxed out at 94.7 mph and some curveballs came in at 83.3. Last season, Pomeranz's best fastball was 94.0 and he didn't throw a curve above 83. He got 19 called strikes and four of the strikeouts were looking. If that's the kind of stuff Pomeranz has all year, he'll have a lot of nights with much better stat lines. 

Here are some other takeaways from a 4-2 win over the Dodgers ... 

--- There was one flaw that needs to be corrected. Pomeranz popped up a bunt attempt with a runner on first and one out in the third. In San Diego, Derek Holland struck out while trying to bunt in the same situation. The Giants were an awful bunting team in 2018 and don't look any better this season. 

They'll need to fix that. They play too many close games to be giving away opportunities like that. 

--- My main story from last night's game: How the Brandons both reached 200 doubles on the same night. 

--- The Giants were disappointed with Evan Longoria's defense early on last season, but he looked like a Gold Glover late in the year, particularly in September. Longoria had two terrific plays Monday. He grabbed a ricochet in the fourth and made a barehanded throw to rob David Freese. Two innings later he made a long throw to nail A.J. Pollock. 

"No question, he looks a lot more comfortable over there," Brandon Belt said. "He looks like his normal self. It's kind of crazy that I get to sit over at first base and basically watch three Gold Glovers over there. It makes it easy on me."

Belt would like a Gold Glove of his own. He's off to a good start in that department. 

[RELATED: Check out new Giant Kevin Pillar's highlight-reel catches]

--- Reyes Moronta was unavailable after throwing two innings on Saturday, but Trevor Gott and Mark Melancon pitched perfect frames to get the ball to Tony Watson and Will Smith, who did what they do. 

That's the formula for these Giants, especially against the Dodgers. Despite spending a lot of money on Joe Kelly, they still have not figured out how to easily get a lead to Kenley Jansen.

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