SAN FRANCISCO -- It was a wild ending for the Giants -- literally.
Automatic runner Tyler Fitzgerald scored from third on a wild pitch from Braves right-hander Pierce Johnson to lift San Francisco to a 5-4 win in 10 innings in Friday night’s series opener at Oracle Park.
Fitzgerald opened the inning at second base and advanced to third on a groundout from Jung Hoo Lee before racing home to score the winning run after Johnson spiked a 1-2 curveball to Wilmer Flores with two outs. It was the second time Fitzgerald has scored the walk-off run on a wild pitch; he also accomplished the feat on July 9, 2024, against the Blue Jays.
The final play made up for a night of sloppy baserunning for the Giants, who made three outs on the bases after the Braves rallied to tie the game on Matt Olson’s two-run homer off Ryan Walker in the top of the seventh.
“It wasn’t our cleanest game of the year, but we found a way to win in the end,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We’ve done that plenty of times here at home. You put away the mistakes and everything that’s gone on over the course of a game and try to get one run in the ninth. How we did it was a little unorthodox, but we’ll certainly take it after like I said, maybe not playing our cleanest game.”
Before redeeming himself in the 10th, Fitzgerald was responsible for the most egregious baserunning miscue of the game when he was picked off at first base by Johnson to end the ninth. Fitzgerald said he wanted to try to steal second base after reaching on a two-out single, but he couldn’t get back to the bag in time after Johnson made a quick throw to Olson.
“Last year, that would have bothered me a little bit more,” Fitzgerald said. “But I was being aggressive in that situation with two outs, trying to get a vault jump to second. He just made a good play. I did all my homework, and I kind of had his timing down. But he held it a little bit longer. With two outs there, I've got to be aggressive. I knew that if I did get thrown out or picked off, I’d start at second base. I knew the risk.”
Fitzgerald said he was thinking about his previous game-winning dash against the Blue Jays when he reached third in extra innings, which helped him stay ready to run when Johnson’s final pitch got away from Braves catcher Sean Murphy.
“It’s kind of the same situation as last year,” Fitzgerald said. “[Toronto’s Trevor Richards] was throwing a lot of changeups. This year, the guy was throwing a lot of curveballs, so I kind of had a feeling that maybe one might hit the dirt. If that guy’s curveball hits the dirt, there’s no stopping it. And then [third-base coach] Matt Williams did a good job of reminding me, ‘Hey, this guy is going to throw a lot of curveballs.’”
Despite the adventures on the basepaths, the Giants remained steady on defense, most notably in the top of the 10th. The Braves threatened after loading the bases with two outs, but Matt Chapman managed to field Luke Williams’ slow roller and quickly throw to first in time to preserve the 4-4 tie.
“He’s unbelievable,” Fitzgerald said. “He makes those plays -- it feels like -- every game. That’s not even like the top-50 best plays I’ve seen him make. But with the game on the line, it’s special what he’s able to do. He can keep his emotions in check and deliver a good throw to first. He takes a lot of hits away from people in the big situations, so we’re lucky to have him.”
With their MLB-high seventh walk-off win of the year, the Giants (36-28) have now won three in a row since shaking up their roster with the additions of first baseman Dominic Smith, outfielder Daniel Johnson and catcher Andrew Knizner. Smith enjoyed another nice game on Friday, plating two runs with a pair of sacrifice flies and ranging into foul territory to make a catch along the first-base railing in the fifth.