Break up the San Francisco Giants.
On a cold and blustery night at AT&T Park, the Giants proved they’re as hot as they’ve been in a month, as Denard Span roped a one-out single into right field in the bottom of the 14th inning to plate Gorkys Hernandez and give San Francisco a 4-3 walkoff win.
Sure, the Giants have won back-to-back games for the first time in a calendar month, and yes it took San Francisco nearly five hours to accomplish the feat, but don’t tell this team to cool down anytime soon.
“It feels pretty good, man,” Span said. “It’s something we haven’t done in awhile and it feels pretty good to hear the music going on two days straight.”
A team that’s lacked a sense of urgency and an ability to come up with timely hits looked like a different ballclub on Tuesday evening, as San Francisco rallied from a two-run deficit in the top of the sixth inning to steal another victory away from a Colorado team that has dominated the Giants all year.
For the first time since late May, San Francisco earned a series victory, snapping a devastating streak in which the Giants dropped seven consecutive sets.
“I mean, it definitely makes the team morale feel a little bit better,” Span said. “Just one day at a time, last night, it felt good, it was a good win and tonight also, a come from behind win and we just need to get back to having fun around here.”
Trailing 3-2 in the bottom half of the eighth inning, pinch hitter Kelby Tomlinson looped a one-out offering from Rockies’ lefty Jake McGee into shallow right field to plate first baseman Brandon Belt and spoil the Rockies’ effort to even the series.
Tomlinson’s single forced the game into extras, and the Giants’ bullpen took over from there. Six different Giants’ pitchers compiled eight innings of scoreless ball in relief of starter Matt Cain, while a pair of San Francisco’s starters, Jeff Samardzija (pinch hitter) and Ty Blach (pinch runner) also lent a hand.
Former Texas Rangers’ closer Sam Dyson was particularly impressive, as he battled out of a jam in the 10th inning and induced a 3-6-3 double play to end the frame in the 11th. Reliever Cory Gearrin was even better, as he threw three scoreless frames and picked up the win.
“It’s fun, you want to go out there and battle and get in an opportunity to pick your team up,” Gearrin said. “You just want to go out there and keep putting up zeroes. It was a lot of fun. Walking it off like that and getting to go out there and push yourself, it’s why we play.”
The late-inning rally took starter Matt Cain off the hook for what would have been his seventh loss in eight starts, as Cain made a lone mistake that Rockies’ cleanup hitter Mark Reynolds pummeled into the night sky.
At this point in his career, Cain’s pitch charts against the Rockies’ lineup could be archived in the Library of Congress, as Colorado hitters entered Tuesday evening’s game having combined for more than 150 at-bats against the 13th-year veteran.
Unfortunately for Cain, one Rockies hitter knew him all too well.
Cain has certain tendencies, and on Tuesday, all it took was Colorado cleanup hitter Mark Reynolds connecting the dots to ruin what could have been one of Cain’s most memorable outings against the Rockies.
After throwing five shutout innings to start the game, Cain hung a first pitch curveball to Reynolds, who smashed the ball deep into the Bay Area fog to give the Rockies a 3-1 lead. With his team trailing by a run, Reynolds sat breaking ball, and one swing of the bat crushed the spirits of a Giants’ team that finally came into a game with its head up.
During the worst two-week stretch for the franchise since 1992, two-out hits, shutdown innings and insurance runs evaded a Giants team that suffered every type of heartbreaking loss –including four against the Rockies– manager Bruce Bochy could imagine. But on Tuesday evening, after 14 innings, the Giants had a win streak.
In the bottom of the third inning, San Francisco threatened to carry that energy over a two-game stretch, as a one-out single and successful sacrifice bunt allowed Span to drive in the game’s first run with two outs on the board.
Against the Rockies, a 1-0 edge is never enough, but for Cain and the Giants, it was a start.
It was a start Cain fed off of, as he tossed five scoreless innings for the first time since throwing six scoreless innings in a win over the Dodgers on April 24.
Cain was poised to complete his best outing of the year, but a one-out single off the bat of right fielder Raimel Tapia followed by an intentional walk to third baseman Nolan Arenado set the table for Reynolds.
The Giants’ pitcher will occasionally snap a first-pitch breaking ball to a power hitter, and Reynolds dug into his memory bank, dug into the batter’s box, and dug into Cain’s gem.
Though a 1-0 lead turned into a 3-1 deficit, the Giants managed to respond against Rockies’ starter Jeff Hoffman in the bottom of the frame. A one-out sacrifice fly from Brandon Crawford plated Buster Posey, and made a comeback attempt more manageable.
In the seventh, the Giants’ threatened once more, after an Austin Slater pinch hit single and a Joe Panik walk allowed pinch run –and Wednesday’s starting pitcher, Ty Blach to advance to second base. But the key two-out hit that has eluded the Giants all season failed to materialize, as Pence popped out to left field.
But in the eighth, a lefty-lefty battle Crawford won against McGee set the stage for Tomlinson, whose pinch-hit heroics kept the Giants alive.
And alive they stayed. For six more innings, until Span sent the dozens of fans and thousands of seagulls home happily ever after.
“I was ready to go home,” Span said. “Those birds, they were dropping stuff around me. I said you know what? I ain’t got time for this. It’s time to go home, man.”