Giants rebound in 10th to gain Wild Card tie

SAN DIEGO -- The Giants won a game in which Madison Bumgarner allowed three home runs and the bullpen blew a save.
However, San Francisco did enough things right to claim a 9-6 victory and a share of the lead in the National League's crowded Wild Card race Saturday, as Denard Span's two-run homer punctuated a three-run, tiebreaking outburst in the 10th inning.
San Francisco rebounded after squandering a 6-0 lead it built through its half of the fourth inning. With the score tied, 6-6, Ángel Pagán singled to christen the 10th and advanced to second base on Ehire Adrianza's sacrifice bunt. Padres right fielder Hunter Renfroe bobbled pinch-hitter Kelby Tomlinson's single, enabling Pagan to score. Span followed with his 11th homer of the season.

"We can fight in the playoffs like that, too," said Giants third baseman Eduardo Núñez, who contributed a breathtaking catch of Carlos Asuaje's third-inning foul popup.
The Giants' victory tied them with the Mets for first place in the NL Wild Card standings at 82-73. St. Louis (81-73) is a half-game back.
Padres rookie outfielders Renfroe and Manuel Margot played key roles in the rally that ultimately came up short, with Renfroe's fourth-inning homer breaking up Bumgarner's no-hitter and Margot driving in the game-tying run in the seventh.
"I saw young guys fight, which was exciting to see," said Padres manager Andy Green. "... You're down 6-0 off Madison Bumgarner, you usually lose that baseball game. Probably just about every time in his career, they've held on to win that baseball game. We were right there on the cusp of winning; we had every chance to. Our guys fought hard."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Baffled Bumgarner: San Francisco's ace didn't know what to make of his performance, which included his 245th strikeout of the season -- a franchise record for left-handers. Bumgarner eclipsed Cy Seymour, who finished with 244 strikeouts in 1898.
Bumgarner yielded five hits in six innings. Three of those hits were home runs, which matched a career high. Bumgarner was still trying to comprehend this after the game.
"That's the best I've felt all year, by far," Bumgarner said. "Best stuff, best command. Everything was there as good as I could hope for it to be."
Bumgarner also recorded his first multiple-hit game of the year by doubling twice.

A few Friar firsts: Renfroe launched his first Major League home run in the fourth inning, jumping on Bumgarner's 1-2 fastball and sending it a Statcast-projected 396 feet into left field. The four-bagger was the Padres' first hit of the night. Later, in the seventh inning, Margot drove an RBI single up the middle to claim his first big league hit and tie the game at 6.
"It's something I'll never forget, that's for sure," Renfroe said of his first homer, before talking about how nice it was to see Margot tally his hit. "I'm sure it feels great for him to get it out of the way. I'm sure for him [he] was feeling like, 'Am I ever going to get a hit?' [He] hit some balls hard and I feel real happy for him. And many more to come."

Stick with Strickland: Reliever Hunter Strickland helped turn momentum in the Giants' favor. The hard-throwing right-hander entered the game in the eighth inning and struck out three batters in 1 2/3 innings.
Manager Bruce Bochy was profoundly appreciative of Strickland's effort: "For him to go out there and calm things down, that's what won the game for us."
Strickland threw mostly fastballs, an approach that has caused trouble for him in the past. But it worked this time.
"I tried to stick with what was working and just attack," Strickland said. "It's definitely something to build off of."
Welcome back, Solarte:Yangervis Solarte pinch-hit in the seventh inning, marking his first time back on the field since his wife passed away last Saturday. More than 30,000 fans gave Solarte a standing ovation as he stepped to the plate, along with his teammates in the dugout. After singling through the infield, Solarte rounded first and pointed to the sky before receiving another ovation.
"I know, in that moment at least, I was going out there just to help the team -- but at the same time I was thinking about her," Solarte said through an interpreter after the game. "Really grateful and really thankful for all the fan support. Thinking about it, and she's up there. It's hard to describe my emotions in that moment, but ultimately, just 'thank you.'" More »

QUOTABLE
"He's going to be good. I have every confidence in the world he's going to be good. ... He's going to fight, he's going to compete, he's going to keep getting better. It was a good moment right there, getting his first hit. Personally I think he should've gotten a hit in the first inning when it was ruled an error. I don't think people realize quite how fast he is yet." -- Green, on seeing Margot get his first Major League hit
AFTER REVIEW
The Giants challenged a play in the top of the ninth inning, after Nunez was called out trying to steal second. Representing the go-ahead run with two outs, officials determined after a one-minute review that Nunez managed to slide into the bag safely ahead of Derek Norris' throw.

WHAT'S NEXT
Giants: San Francisco's two-city, seven-game trip ends Sunday with the 1:40 p.m. PT series finale against San Diego. Rookie left-hander Ty Blach, who has a couple of three-inning scoreless relief appearances to his credit, is scheduled to replace injured Johnny Cueto and make his first start as a Giant.
Padres:Clayton Richard takes the mound for Sunday's finale at 1:40 p.m. PT. The 33-year-old lefty has been close to lights out for the Padres since joining the rotation, posting a 1.71 ERA through his first seven starts thanks in part to a 64 percent ground-ball rate..
Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.