SAN FRANCISCO — The last time Tyler Rogers closed a ballgame for the San Francisco Giants, Donovan Solano was watching the game from a Manhattan hotel room on the first night of a 10-day quarantine.
Solano had just tested positive for COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated and was dealing with flu-like symptoms that kept him away from the ballpark, apart from his teammates and off the baseball diamond at one of the most critical junctures of the season.
On Friday at Oracle Park, Rogers and Solano were both back in the spotlight, but for different reasons for a Giants club that won 6-5 in 11 innings on a walk-off sacrifice fly from none other than Thursday’s starting pitcher Kevin Gausman.
With the Giants out of position players in the 11th inning, manager Gabe Kapler sent Gausman to the plate with the bases loaded and one out against Braves reliever Jacob Webb. In a situation where most teams would ask their pitcher to keep the bat on his shoulders, Gausman was given the green light to swing away and he produced a 256-foot flyball that was just deep enough to allow Brandon Crawford to race home and beat a throw from right fielder Joc Pederson.
Gausman’s swing was hardly the only remarkable aspect of a victory that moved the Giants 2.0 games ahead of the Dodgers in the National League West with 14 games left to play.
After Jake McGee was placed on the 10-day injured list Friday with a right oblique strain, Kapler made Rogers the interim closer and called on him for his first save opportunity since August 26.
The right-hander was greeted in ominous fashion as Braves sluggers Austin Riley and Adam Duvall recorded back-to-back singles on the first two pitches Rogers threw. The rally set the stage for Braves catcher Travis d’Arnaud to stun the Oracle Park crowd as he lofted a high, arcing flyball into the left field seats for a go-ahead three-run home run.
“I think every once in awhile you’re going to run into some good swings in succession and I think that’s what happened tonight. We always say this, but we look forward to getting Rog back out there in the biggest spot.”
The home run should have cost the Giants a chance to extend its lead in the National League West over a Dodgers team that lost to the Reds hours earlier, but Kapler hadn’t yet inserted Solano into the game.
Braves closer Will Smith recorded consecutive outs to open the bottom of the ninth before Solano, who was activated Friday, came off the bench for his first at-bat in more than three weeks. Pinch-hitting for Mike Yastrzemski, Solano sent a line drive over the left field wall to tie the game at 5-5 and bring the Giants back to life in a game the Braves had in hand.
“I do think there is some importance to getting the platoon advantage in that situation. Yaz has had some ups and downs this season and I have no doubt he’s going to take big at-bats against left-handed pitchers going forward both in the near and long-term, I just felt like Solano was the best option.”
For much of Friday’s game, the Giants who appeared poised to be the comeback winners as they fell behind 2-0 before in the first inning before answering immediately. Left fielder Darin Ruf drew a leadoff walk against right-hander Ian Anderson before first baseman Brandon Belt blasted a home run into the right field arcade.
Belt’s 26th home run of the season and 15th since the All-Star break was caught by a fan who made an impressive leaping grab while wearing a jersey of another well-known Giants first baseman, J.T. Snow. While the back of the jersey represented Snow’s name, the fan was also clearly a big supporter of Belt as he used black electrical tape to create a makeshift “C” on his jersey just as Belt did on the road at Wrigley Field last Friday.
The Giants took the lead in the second when Crawford sent a line drive over the left center field wall to match his career-high with his 21st homer of the season. The solo shot put the Giants back in control and gave Webb the chance to pitch with a lead, which is what the right-hander has done throughout a dominant second half of the season.
Webb needed help from his defense to get through a 1-2-3 sixth inning and he received it from Crawford, who laid out into the hole between third base and shortstop to snag a 110.1-mile per hour one-hopper off the bat of Braves third baseman Austin Riley. After making the snag, Crawford jumped to his feet and fired to Belt at first to complete one of the most impressive plays of his season and one that left Riley tipping his batting helmet in admiration.
Despite allowing two runs on three hits in the first inning, Webb turned in another outstanding start as he gave up just three more hits while holding the Braves scoreless over the next six frames. The 24-year-old right-hander completed seven innings for the fifth time in his last seven starts and lowered his season ERA to 2.79.
Following a 1-2-3 eighth inning from set-up man Dominic Leone, the Giants were poised to pick up a game on the Dodgers in the National League West, but d’Arnaud and the Braves had other ideas against Rogers.
With help from Tony Watson who pitched a scoreless 10th inning and Camilo Doval who kept the Braves off the board in the 11th, the Giants were able to win a chaotic game that ended with a rare walk-off RBI from a pitcher.
