Vitello, Giants get 1st win by beating Padres 3-2 as Bader homers off Buehler

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Harrison Bader connected against Walker Buehler for San Francisco's first home run this season and the Giants held off a late rally by the San Diego Padres to give rookie manager Tony Vitello his first victory, 3-2 on Monday night.

Ryan Walker was one strike from closing a two-hit shutout when he allowed a two-run homer to Jackson Merrill. Walker then got Xander Bogaerts to ground out to finish the combined three-hitter for a save.

Vitello, hired from the University of Tennessee despite no professional playing or coaching experience, and the Giants had a miserable opening series. They were outscored 13-1 by the New York Yankees in a three-game sweep, becoming the 11th team to score no more than one run over the initial three games of a season. They matched a franchise record Saturday by reaching 20 innings without scoring to begin the season before finally getting a run in the third inning of a 3-1 loss.

The Giants were also the only team without a home run this year until Bader drove a 1-2 pitch from Buehler (0-1) off the facade of the second deck in left field leading off the third.

San Francisco added on with consecutive RBI singles with two outs in the fourth by Patrick Bailey and Casey Schmitt, who played at suburban Eastlake High and San Diego State.

Landen Roupp (1-0) allowed two singles while striking out seven and walking two in six innings.

The 31-year-old Buehler, who pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers his first seven seasons, is back in the NL West after pitching for Boston and Philadelphia last season. He was a spring signee and earned a spot in a rotation minus Yu Darvish for the season following elbow surgery and Joe Musgrove, who began the season on the injured list with right elbow inflammation after his own return from Tommy John surgery went slower than hoped.

Buehler allowed three runs and five hits over four innings in his Padres debut.

Giants RHP Logan Webb (0-1, 10.80 ERA) and Padres RHP Germán Márquez are scheduled to start Tuesday night. It will be Márquez's debut with San Diego.

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San Francisco Giants' Patrick Bailey watches his RBI single during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres Monday, March 30, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. swings while batting during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the San Francisco Giants Monday, March 30, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Arizona Diamondbacks' Ketel Marte, left, slides safely into second base as Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Báez bobbles the ball during a steal attempt in the first inning of an opening-day baseball game Monday, March 30, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Darryl Webb)

San Francisco Giants' Harrison Bader celebrates his home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres Monday, March 30, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

San Francisco Giants' Harrison Bader celebrates his home run during the third inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres Monday, March 30, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

Set to miss the playoffs for the first time in a decade, the Toronto Maple Leafs fired general manager Brad Treliving on Monday night, ending his tenure late in his third season in charge of one of the NHL's most popular and talked about teams.

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment president Keith Pelley announced the abrupt change before Toronto played at Anaheim.

“Throughout the course of this season, there has been deep analysis into both the current state of the Maple Leafs organization and the direction needed to achieve the ultimate goal of delivering a Stanley Cup championship to the city,” Pelley said in a statement. “Brad Treliving is a man that we all have deep respect for, but it was determined that the club must chart a new course under different leadership.”

It’s unclear what the move means for the future of coach Craig Berube, whom Treliving hired in May 2024. Berube won the Cup with St. Louis in 2019.

The Leafs have not won it since 1967 and are on the verge of being eliminated from playoff contention this season. This core — led by Auston Matthews — reached the playoffs nine consecutive years but won just two series in that time.

Cutting ties with Treliving came just before a rematch against the Ducks, a little over two weeks since one of the touchpoints of Toronto's woeful few months. Matthews was injured March 12 on a knee-on-knee hit from Radko Gudas and none of his teammates responded to a play that incurred a five-game suspension.

Max Domi fought Gudas off the opening faceoff Monday night, and he and his teammates racked up 59 penalty minutes in the first two periods — more than any game during Treliving's time as GM.

Treliving was hired in May 2023 after then-president of hockey operations Brendan Shanahan fired GM Kyle Dubas. Shanahan did not have his contract renewed last year following a second-round exit, and no one took his spot in between Pelley and Treliving in the organizational pecking order.

Shanahan, Dubas and predecessor Lou Lamoriello constructed the top of the roster, from Matthews and John Tavares to Mitch Marner and William Nylander. Treliving was running the team last summer when Marner's most recent contract expired and recouped some value in a sign-and-trade with Vegas rather than losing him for nothing in free agency.

Treliving, who was in his second NHL GM job following a lengthy stint with the Calgary Flames from 2014-23, was responsible for a handful of significant moves during his tenure in Toronto. That included an ill-fated March 2025 deal for defenseman Brandon Carlo that included sending Fraser Minten and a first-round pick to Boston.

His final acts were selling moves at the most recent deadline, trading Scott Laughton to Los Angeles and Bobby McMann to Seattle.

AP freelance writer Mike DiGiovanna in Anaheim, California, contributed to this report.

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FILE - Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving holds an NHL hockey press conference at the Ford Performance Centre, in Toronto, Thursday, May 29, 2025. (Cole Burston/The Canadian Press via AP, File)