SAN FRANCISCO (Interstat) — The New York Yankees leaned on a familiar formula of timely hitting and defensive excellence to complete a season-opening sweep, defeating the San Francisco Giants 3-1 on Saturday at Oracle Park.

A crowd of 40,634 watched as the Yankees improved to 3-0, while the Giants fell to 0-3. The game, played in a brisk 2 hours and 46 minutes, was a masterclass in run prevention by New York, which turned four critical double plays to repeatedly extinguish San Francisco rallies.

The most important sequence of the game unfolded in the bottom of the sixth inning, with the Yankees clinging to a 3-1 lead. The Giants, who out-hit New York 9-7, threatened to erase the deficit. Rafael Devers led off with a sharp double to right field, and Heliot Ramos followed with a single to left, putting runners on the corners with no outs. Yankees reliever Jake Bird, who would earn the win, entered and struck out Willy Adames swinging for the first out. Harrison Bader then grounded a ball to second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr., who started a swift 4-6-3 double play to end the inning, stranding the potential tying run at third base.

That twin killing was the third of four for the Giants, who consistently found hits but could not sustain an inning. They also grounded into double plays in the fourth, eighth, and a game-ending one in the ninth.

Yankees starter Will Warren, named the top star, navigated traffic for 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits with three strikeouts. His lone blemish came in the third inning when Jung Hoo Lee doubled and scored on a Matt Chapman single, briefly cutting the Yankees’ lead to 2-1.

New York had established its advantage in the top of that same inning against Giants starter Tyler Mahle. After two quick outs, Trent Grisham walked and Aaron Judge struck out. Cody Bellinger kept the inning alive with a single, moving Grisham to third. Rookie Ben Rice then delivered the key blow, lacing a two-run double down the right-field line to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

Judge provided an insurance run in the fifth, launching a solo home run to left field, his second of the young season, to make it 3-1.

Mahle took the loss for San Francisco, working four innings and surrendering two runs on five hits while striking out five. The Giants’ bullpen of JT Brubaker, Matt Gage, Keaton Winn, and Ryan Walker combined for five scoreless innings of one-hit relief, but the offense could not break through.

Following Bird’s pivotal sixth-inning escape, the Yankees’ bullpen sealed the win. Tim Hill worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings, and closer David Bednar earned his second save despite a minor scare in the ninth. Bednar allowed a leadoff walk to Ramos and a single to Adames, putting the tying runs on base. He struck out Bader looking, then induced Patrick Bailey to ground into another 4-6-3 double play to end the game.

The victory continued a dominant start for the Yankees, who have outscored the Giants 13-1 in the three-game series. The Giants, conversely, have mustered only one run and 15 hits total across the three contests.

New York’s pitching staff, while issuing six walks (51 balls to 12 strikes in play), relied heavily on its defense. The Yankees’ infield combination of Chisholm, shortstop José Caballero, third baseman Ryan McMahon, and first baseman Rice was instrumental in the quartet of double plays.

According to pregame projections, Interstat’s game simulator had predicted a 2-1 Yankees victory, and its ELO system gave New York a 56.4% probability to win. The Yankees also covered the spread as a -1.5 favorite. The total of four runs went well under the over/under line of 8.

The Yankees now travel to Seattle to begin a three-game series with the Mariners on Monday. The Giants head south for a three-game set against the San Diego Padres, also beginning Monday, as both teams look to build momentum in the early season.