SAN FRANCISCO – Returning home after a rough 1-5 road trip through Seattle and Kansas City, the Giants sought a fresh start against the Angels.
And though ace Logan Webb wasn’t his sharpest and a four-run lead had dissolved by the eighth, San Francisco had the last laugh in the end, with Rafael Devers’ walk-off hit delivering an 7-6 victory in the 10th inning on Friday night at Oracle Park.
A crucial element of the win was a sterling play from center fielder Grant McCray in the top of the 10th, as he caught a fly ball and fired a strike to third base, retiring Oswald Peraza on a bang-bang play to quell an attempted Angels rally and put the Giants in the driver’s seat heading into the bottom of the frame.
Luis Arraez’s bloop single pushed the automatic runner to third and a one-out walk to Bryce Eldridge loaded the bases before Devers sent the sold-out crowd home happy with a walk-off drive to left field.
It came as no surprise that Casey Schmitt played a central role in the victory, his three-run homer in the third staking the Giants to a 5-1 lead.
Schmitt’s 21st homer, an ongoing career high, was barreled off his bat at a Statcast-projected 105.9 mph over the left-field fence, just left of the bleachers.