ANAHEIM -- The Giants’ prolonged offensive struggles have forced them to operate without much margin for error in recent weeks. They found a way to outhit their mistakes on Monday night. 

After squandering a lead behind defensive miscues by outfielders Luis Matos and AJ Pollock, the Giants erupted for six runs against All-Star closer Carlos Estévez in the top of the ninth inning and rolled to an 8-3 series-opening victory over the Angels at Angel Stadium.

• Game Story: Webb's solid start keeps SF in touch before wild 9th ▶️

San Francisco trailed, 3-2, before rookie Patrick Bailey sparked the late comeback with a two-run, go-ahead double that got past a tumbling Randal Grichuk in left field. The Giants kept the rally going with RBI hits from Mark Mathias, Thairo Estrada and Blake Sabol, marking the first time they scored four or more runs in a regulation inning since June 23.

With the win, San Francisco (62-51) snapped its eight-game road losing streak and moved a half-game ahead of the Phillies for the top spot in the National League Wild Card race.

“We’ve come in after wins, and it’s always got a little extra life,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “But today it was a different level. I think the players felt how good it can be when we string a bunch of hits together like we did there late in the game. Winning games late is always fun. The offense did a really nice job there.”

The Giants entered Monday batting only .199 over their previous 17 contests, but they opened the scoring in the fourth after Wilmer Flores doubled and scored on Bailey’s RBI single off left-hander Patrick Sandoval. Still, the Angels took advantage of a defensive breakdown to erase the deficit in the sixth.

Shohei Ohtani led off the inning with a hustle double off Logan Webb and dashed home on C.J. Cron’s two-out RBI single to tie the game, 1-1. Mickey Moniak followed with another single to center field that was misplayed by Matos, who bobbled the ball before making a throw back to the infield. 

With Matos struggling to field the ball cleanly, the Angels decided to wave home Cron, who was ruled safe after Bailey couldn’t hang on to Estrada’s relay throw to the plate. Matos and Bailey were each charged with an error on the play, which put Los Angeles ahead, 2-1. 

“It hit my glove and bounced out,” Bailey said. “I went to close it and it wasn’t there. It happens.”

J.D. Davis tied the game with his team-leading 15th home run of the year in the seventh, but poor defense came back to bite the Giants again in the bottom half of the inning. 

Pollock, who was acquired from the Mariners along with Mathias at the Trade Deadline, misread Grichuk’s routine fly ball to left field, allowing it to fall for a one-out triple. The next batter, Luis Rengifo, came through with an RBI single, putting the Angels back in front.

“We’re not always going to be able to overcome defensive miscues,” Kapler said. “We really want to limit those. I think we’ve played overall pretty good defense over the course of the season. The last couple of games have been less so. We want to limit days when we have rough games on defense because ultimately, as we saw in ‘22, they have a bit of a cascading effect and force more pitchers into the game.”

The Giants came within inches of tying the game again when pinch-hitter Joc Pederson sent a drive deep to center field with two outs in the eighth, but Moniak robbed him with a spectacular leaping catch at the wall.

Still, the dejection didn’t linger long for the Giants, who responded in the ninth with one of their biggest rallies of the second half of the season. While the outburst lifted spirits across the team, Mathias and Sabol’s contributions proved particularly meaningful.

Mathias, a Fremont, Calif., native who grew up rooting for the Giants, collected his first hit with his hometown club with a two-run flare to center field. Sabol, who hails from Aliso Viejo, Calif., and cheered for the Angels as a kid, capped the big inning by delivering an RBI single in his first career at-bat at Angel Stadium. 

“This is the place I dreamt of playing when I was little, so it was really cool to be able to get a knock in my first at-bat here,” Sabol said. “That’s my first hit in a while that’s really put a big smile on my face.”