Giants go from down 8 to ultimate grand slam walk-off winners!

SAN FRANCISCO -- On Monday night, Bryce Eldridge came up to the plate with a chance to do something special.

The Giants trailed by one entering the bottom of the ninth, but they were threatening to come back after putting runners on the corners with two outs for Eldridge. The 21-year-old rookie couldn’t come through in the big spot, though, striking out swinging to end the game.

“I wasn’t pleased with how I ended the game,” Eldridge said. “I was talking with a lot of people about that. I was like, ‘I want that opportunity back. I don’t know if I’m going to get that opportunity again for a while.’”

As it turned out, Eldridge needed to wait only two days. And this time, he delivered.

Eldridge launched an “ultimate grand slam” in the bottom of the ninth to help the Giants erase an eight-run deficit and rally for a wild 11-10 walk-off win over the Nationals in Wednesday afternoon’s series finale at Oracle Park.

The grand slam was San Francisco's seventh in a 23-game stretch, making the Giants only the second team in MLB history to do this in a single season.

• A complete list of ultimate grand slams

“I was trying to envision it,” said Eldridge, who took several steps down the first-base line before heaving his bat in the air to punctuate the moment. “I always want to be that guy in that situation. The other night really frustrated me. It was a good learning opportunity. I didn’t think it was going to happen again two days later, but I got to learn from it. I got my pitch. I’m glad it snuck out.”

Eldridge's first career grand slam was just the second walk-off slam in Giants history when coming to the plate facing a three-run deficit, joining Bobby Thomson on June 16, 1952, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Eldridge, at 21 years and 233 days old, is the youngest player in MLB history to hit a walk-off grand slam, surpassing Roberto Clemente (21 years, 342 days), who hit an inside-the-park walk-off slam on July 25, 1956.

“That’s the first I heard about that, obviously, but I’m trying to wipe the smile off my face and stay professional,” Eldridge said. “That’s cool. That’s what I worked for my whole life. That’s something I’ve always strived to be: Be great at this game.”

The Giants (28-41) allowed the Nationals to build a 9-1 lead through seven innings, but they came alive after Matt Chapman and Rafael Devers mashed back-to-back home runs to spark a five-run rally in the bottom of the eighth. They went on to score five more in the ninth to pull off their most improbable win of the year and avoid being swept at home by the Nationals.

The Giants are the first team to win when trailing by eight or more runs entering the eighth inning since Cleveland on May 25, 2009, and they are just the sixth team to do so in the Divisional Era (since 1969).

And it was just the second win in Giants history when trailing by eight or more runs entering the eighth inning, joining their 10-8 win (after trailing 8-0 going into the eighth) at Pittsburgh on Sept. 8, 1947.

“It was hard to figure out what to say after the game,” Chapman said. “It was unbelievable. We had two hard losses the last two days. We’ve been on 13 straight, grinding. We could have easily been down 9-1 and rolled over, and we didn’t. We kept battling. That was just a lot of fun and a good way to end it.”

The Giants were down, 10-6, entering the bottom of the ninth, but they cut the deficit to three behind an RBI double from Chapman, who finished 4-for-5 with a pair of home runs and three RBIs.

Devers then walked and Jung Hoo Lee singled to load the bases for Eldridge, who then crushed a 2-0 slider from Nationals left-hander Mitchell Parker off the top of the right-field wall to cap the stunning win. The turn of events was even more incredible considering the Giants entered Wednesday 0-30 when trailing after six innings this season.

“That was as dramatic as it gets,” manager Tony Vitello said.

It was a signature moment for Eldridge, though it probably won’t be the last, as the 6-foot-7 slugger has been viewed as a potential face of the franchise ever since he was taken with the 16th overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft. He certainly isn’t shying away from assuming that mantle, especially now that he’s backing up those sky-high expectations by batting .298 with a .906 OPS and four home runs over 28 games this year.

“I’m just going to keep working hard because I want to be the face of this franchise,” Eldridge said. “That’s something that motivates me every day. I want to be in that moment. I want to be that guy. Having my first kind of big moment like that is very special.”