Braves battle back to beat Giants in extras
ATLANTA -- Adonis Garcia's two-run homer off Ryan Vogelsong in the 12th inning erased San Francisco's one-run lead and gave the Atlanta Braves a 9-8 triumph Monday night over the Giants.
"He's got some pop, especially to right-center," said Braves catcher A.J. Pierzynski, who had a four-hit night with a clutch homer of his own. "I tell you what, if you give him a pitch out over [the plate], he'll whack you pretty good, and he's done that against some pretty good guys."
San Francisco grabbed an 8-7 edge in its half of the 12th as Buster Posey singled to drive in Kelby Tomlinson, who celebrated his Major League debut by lacing a pinch-hit single. But Jace Peterson opened Atlanta's half of the 12th by reaching safely on shortstop Brandon Crawford's throwing error. Up came Garcia, who homered on a 3-1 pitch.
Earlier, the Giants matched a season high with four home runs, including two by Crawford, which gave them a 6-0 lead after four innings. Then the Braves drove Giants starter Matt Cain from the game with four sixth-inning runs, three on Peterson's homer. Chris Johnson also homered to lead off the Braves' seventh and narrow their deficit to a single run. Nori Aoki's ninth-inning RBI single gave the Giants a seemingly safe 7-5 edge, but Pierzynski's two-out, two-run homer off Santiago Casilla forced extra innings.
"A lot of good things happened," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "Unfortunately, you'd like to think you're going to hold a six-run lead and we couldn't do it."
• Braves show plenty of fight in big comeback
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Peterson's pop: After a 26-game stretch where Peterson hit just .167 with four doubles, the Atlanta second baseman is responsible for three-run homers in back-to-back games. Peterson's blast to right-center in the bottom of the sixth cut the Giants' 6-0 lead in half and provides some hope that the 25-year-old infielder is starting to make the adjustments needed to end his prolonged slump.
Video: SF@ATL: Peterson belts a three-run shot off Cain
"He's been swinging it," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. "For a guy who came out of the All-Star break -- and you guys know the numbers, you guys posted the numbers -- you know he's been struggling. But the last three or four games, he's starting to swing it, starting to drive in some big runs for us."
Brandons blast off: The Giants have only three sets of back-to-back homers this year. Brandon Belt and Crawford have contributed two of them, including Monday's second-inning sequence. Their slugging helped set the pace that sustained the Giants in the early going.
Posey clobbered a two-run homer in the third inning before Crawford hiked his team-leading homer total to 18 with a two-run clout in the fourth.
Video: SF@ATL: Giants smash four homers vs. the Braves
Foltynewicz comes out flat: Mike Foltynewicz didn't bring his best stuff to the table Monday and saw the Giants take advantage of a poorly located fastball. San Francisco homered four times in four innings against the Atlanta rookie, who struggled to throw his curveball for strikes and also left several hanging sliders over the plate in his six innings on the hill. Foltynewicz has now allowed home runs in eight of his 10 starts this season, including four straight.
"He just was missing up a little bit," Pierzynski said. "His last start he was really good down and away, especially to righties, and he was just missing a little bit up [in the zone]. And this team can hit -- especially in the middle of their lineup. They can hit, and they can hit homers. And they just didn't miss him tonight."
Cain struggles: The other starting pitcher, San Francisco's Matt Cain, didn't fare much better. He worked four batters into the sixth inning, allowing four runs and a season-high 10 hits. Of the 40 hits Cain has yielded this season, 19 have gone for extra bases.
Cain denied that he weakened in any way after blanking Atlanta for the first five innings.
"I felt good the whole time," he said.
Video: SF@ATL: Pierzynski homers, collects four hits in win
QUOTABLE
"It was incredible, with the crappy night I had, just to see them battle back. They saved me tonight, and the defense played great tonight. I didn't strike anybody out so they were running all over for me today, which was awesome. But I missed a couple bad pitches, missing my spots up and away, just giving up the home runs, which made me sick to see them go out just by that little bit, but a home run's a home run. The team was outstanding tonight." -- Foltynewicz
Video: SF@ATL: Garcia discusses his walk-off home run
REPLAY REVIEW
Peterson's line drive down the right-field line during the second inning was initially called foul, but a quick review showed that the ball found some of the chalk, and Peterson was promptly put on second base.
Video: SF@ATL: Peterson given double after challenge in 2nd
The Giants contested the ruling on an 11th-inning play in which Ehire Adrianza was thrown out on an attempted steal of second base. Following a video review, the call on the field was confirmed.
Video: SF@ATL: Pierzynski throws out Adrianza on review
WHAT'S NEXT
Giants: Jake Peavy will hope for better luck and a livelier offense Tuesday when he confronts Atlanta beginning at 4:10 p.m. PT. Last Wednesday, Peavy blanked Milwaukee for six innings but received no decision as the Giants didn't score until the seventh.
Braves: Atlanta will counter with Shelby Miller, who is looking to end a streak of 13 consecutive winless starts. Over that period, Miller has posted a 3.19 ERA but has received just 2 runs of support per game.
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