The Giants looked set for a comfortable win this afternoon but baseball stuff got in the way. The lowly Pirates got a big inning against starter Alex Wood in the 5th to turn a 5-0 lead to a more modest 5-3. When John Brebbia took the hill in the 7th he put two on and gave up a three-run homer to make it 6-5 in favor of the visitors. It looked bleak but an error gifted the Giants the tying run in the bottom half. In the 9th the Giants gifted the Pirates a run on an error and nearly a second but for a nifty play at the plate by Joey Bart on a throw from Wilmer Flores.
Trailing 7-6 in the bottom of the 9th the home squad was all set for a disappointing face plant in front of 36,000+ fans. But Evan Longoria (he of the error) singled. Mike Yastrzemski almost doubled him up (it was J.D. Davis pinch-running) but instead got to first on the force out. Thairo Estrada then hit the first pitch for a game-winning two-run homer.
It's the Giants sixth walk-off win of the season and their sixth win in the month of August to even their record at 6-6. They sweep Pittsburgh to get back to .500 at 57-57.
Alex Cobb takes the hill tomorrow night in San Francisco at 6:45 Pacific to open a four-game set against the Diamondbacks.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
2 comments:
The best reason to read FanGraphs is David Laurila's "Sunday Notes" column. He also does regular features in which he interviews a player, usually an up-and-comer, but sometimes a veteran making a change, and gets them to talk about their craft.
In his latest post he talks to Giants southpaw phenom Kyle Harrison.
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/kyle-harrison-is-one-of-the-top-pitching-prospects-in-the-game/
It's always interesting to hear from players about their growth and learning.
The announcers said that this was Thairo's first walk-off.
Glancing at the schedule, I see that the Giants have 48 games left. 20 of those games, including 4 of the last 5 series (who designed this mess?) are against Arizona and Colorado. We have 6 games and 2 series, including the finale, with San Diego, and 6 more games against LA. Of the remaining 16, 3 are against Philadelphia, 3 against the Twinkies, and 3 against Atlanta, all competing for playoff spots. Also 3 against the Cubs and 2 against Milwaukee, also vying for the postseason, and 2 against Detroit. Not an easy row to hoe.
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