Bats quiet again as late rally falls short

SAN FRANCISCO — Alex Wood pitched seven crisp innings after allowing a home run on the game’s third pitch, and the San Francisco Giants kept rolling at Oracle Park by beating the Miami Marlins 5-3 on Friday — without the beloved therapy bunny in attendance.

Mike Yastrzemski homered as the Giants improved to 7-1 at home and celebrated Buster Posey becoming the first player in franchise history to catch 1,000 games. Brandon Belt walked three times and had an RBI single.

Jazz Chisholm and Jesus Aguilar homered for the Marlins.

A night after Alex the rabbit provided some light moments for fans while sitting with his owners behind San Francisco’s dugout, the Giants found motivation in Wood’s second start after his season was delayed by a minor back procedure.

Wood (2-0) set down 21 of 22 after Chisholm’s leadoff homer in the first, the only hit allowed by the Giants left-hander. Wood struck out seven, walked one and made a nice play to snag a line drive up the middle by Chisholm in the sixth.

Both of Wood’s starts in 2021 have been against the Marlins, allowing one run in 12 innings.

Tyler Rogers and Jake McGee retired three batters apiece to complete the three-hitter.

Yastrzemski hit an opposite-field home run to left in the third off Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara (0-2) after Tommy LaStella walked.

Alcantara allowed two runs and four hits in five innings. He had four strikeouts and four walks.

Posey walked and reached on a fielder’s choice in four plate appearances on his milestone night. The 34-year-old former MVP, who opted out of the 2020 season over health concerns for his adopted twin daughters, has played in 1,271 games overall during his 12-year career.

Chisholm’s fourth homer of the season was the first of his career leading off a game.

It was an encouraging sign for Marlins manager Don Mattingly after his team was shut out a fourth time Thursday.

“You’re thinking you can get something going,” Mattingly said. “Then Wood just kept us off balance all day. He’s a guy that kind of filters the ball both ways, in and out and down. If you let him get his outs down, you’re going to be in trouble and he got a lot of outs down.”

Aguilar homered off McGee with two outs in the ninth following a throwing error by Giants third baseman Wilmer Flores.