SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants, quite literally, walked off the Padres on Tuesday night at Oracle Park.
Joc Pederson crushed a game-tying home run in the eighth inning and then drew a bases-loaded walk off Padres closer Josh Hader with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to force in the winning run and propel the Giants to a 4-3 walk-off win, extending San Francisco’s winning streak to a season-high nine games. It was the the Giants' second consecutive walk-off win over San Diego.
After taking ball four on the seventh pitch of his at-bat against Hader, Pederson tossed his bat and yelled, “Let’s go,” setting off another memorable celebration for the Giants (41-32), who moved within 2 1/2 games of the first-place D-backs in the National League West.
“It’s been fun to be a part of,” said Pederson, who is batting .326 with a .988 OPS and three homers over 13 games this month. “It feels like we’ve got 26 guys pulling on the same string. It’s somebody new every night. We’ve dealt with some injuries, and we’re still able to overcome [it] and have someone step up. It’s really big.”
The Giants have shown a flair for the dramatic during their surge this month, as they trailed in the seventh inning or later in five of their nine consecutive victories. They lead the Majors with 137 runs scored in the seventh inning or later this year, a sign of the club’s ability to consistently string together late rallies.
“I think we’ve struggled a little bit in the early parts of games recently, but I think it speaks to the tenacity of the team and also to the fact that if you get a bigger sample size and more at-bats in a game, eventually the true colors of the offense are going to come out,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “I think they have, in a lot of ways and in the biggest moments, really swung the bats well when everything is on the line.”
The Giants were held to three hits by Padres right-hander Seth Lugo, who allowed only one run over five innings in his return from the injured list, but their bats came alive late against San Diego’s bullpen.
Down 3-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the Giants loaded the bases with no outs on a leadoff walk by pinch-hitter Austin Slater and back-to-back singles by Mike Yastrzemski and Luis Matos.
Patrick Bailey followed with a chopper to the left side, but Padres third baseman Manny Machado managed to field the ball and step on third for the forceout before throwing to catcher Austin Nola to get Slater at the plate and complete the double play.
Brandon Crawford ensured the Giants didn’t come away empty-handed, as he delivered a two-out RBI single off lefty Tim Hill to cut the deficit to 3-2.
San Francisco then received a key jolt from Pederson, who opened the bottom of the eighth with a game-tying solo shot off right-hander Nick Martinez. It was Pederson’s eighth home run of the year and his second in three career at-bats against Martinez.
The Giants staged their final rally in the bottom of the ninth. Matos walked and Bailey singled to put a pair of runners on with one out, prompting Padres manager Bob Melvin to bring in Hader.
Kapler countered by sending Casey Schmitt to pinch-hit for the left-handed-hitting Crawford. Schmitt entered Tuesday batting only .151 (8-for-53) over his last 16 games, but Kapler was pleased with the work the 24-year-old rookie did during early batting practice on Tuesday and felt it was a good moment to try to capitalize on the platoon advantage.
“It’s particularly challenging and particularly uncomfortable because I believe in Craw in the biggest way,” Kapler said. “We’ve obviously seen him come through in the clutch so many times, and I’m confident that he can get the job done in that situation. At the same time, Hader is just especially tough on everybody, but in particular on lefties.”
The move paid off after Schmitt -- aided by a pitch-timer violation by Hader -- drew a walk to load the bases. After walking only once in his first 133 plate appearances, Schmitt now has two in his last two games with the Giants.
“We’ll take it,” right-hander Anthony DeSclafani said. “Walking machine.”
“I’m just trying not to do too much,” Schmitt said. “I think I had been trying to do too much and it kind of made me get a little out of whack at the plate. I think staying calm and trying to be a little more selective, I think it’s helping a lot.”
Hader struck out David Villar swinging on three pitches, but he struggled to find the strike zone against Pederson and ultimately issued another free pass to end the game.
Did Pederson draw more satisfaction from his home run or his walk?
“The walk,” Pederson said. “We won the game, so yeah.”