Fastball

San Francisco Giants' Flamethrower Makes Team History with High-Octane Fastball

The Giants beat the Houston Astros on Monday by a score of 7-2 as Jordan Hicks earned his first win of the season.

Brady Farkas

San Francisco Giants pitcher Jordan Hicks against the Milwaukee Brewers during a spring training game at American Family Fields of Phoenix on March 14.
San Francisco Giants pitcher Jordan Hicks against the Milwaukee Brewers during a spring training game at American Family Fields of Phoenix on March 14. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
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The San Francisco Giants moved out to 3-1 on the young season with a 7-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Monday night in Houston. The Astros are now 2-2 after the loss.

Giants' right-hander Jordan Hicks earned the win on the mound after tossing 6.0 scoreless innings. He allowed just one hit and two walks while striking out six. He also made some team history with his high-octane fastball, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

Fastest pitches by Giants SP, pitch-tracking era (2008):

6/12/22 Carlos Rodon: 100.2 mph
Tonight Jordan Hicks: 100.0 mph
4/24/08 Tim Lincecum: 100.0 mph
Tonight Jordan Hicks: 99.9 mph
Tonight Jordan Hicks: 99.9 mph

The 28-year-old Hicks is in the seventh year of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays and Giants. A former reliever, he's got just 29 starts under his belt, but he certainly has the stuff to succeed in that role. Lifetime, he's 16-28 with a 3.86 ERA. He was 4-7 last year in 29 games, the first year he spent as a starter.

Wilmer Flores hit a home run in the Giants win, his third of the season. Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee each had doubles.

The Giants and Astros will play again on Tuesday night with first pitch coming at 8:10 p.m. ET. Giants' All-Star Logan Webb will make his second start of the season while Hayden Wesneski makes his first for Houston.

He was acquired in the offseason trade that sent outfielder Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs. He went 3-6 a season ago.

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GOOD NEWS ON SUGANO: Tomoyuki Sugano, who was signed this offseason, has gotten good injury news for the Baltimore Orioles. CLICK HERE:

MAX TO THE IL: Max Scherzer, signed to a one-year deal this offseason, is now on the injured list for the Blue Jays. CLICK HERE:

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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