SANDOVAL GIVES GIANTS YET ANOTHER LATE WIN
SAN FRANCISCO — With each passing day, the San Francisco Giants become more convinced they have what it takes to continue a special July run and complete a stunning march to the postseason.
When Madison Bumgarner takes the mound and pitches like he has lately, good luck convincing them otherwise.
The Chicago Cubs tried to spoil the Giants’ hopes with an eighth-inning rally, but San Francisco is thriving on drama these days.
It took until the bottom of the 13th inning, but the Giants secured their 17th win in their last 20 games on a Pablo Sandoval opposite field home run to clinch a 5-4 victory.
After rookie reliever Sam Coonrod struck out Cubs sluggers Javy Baez and Kris Bryant in the top of the 13th, Sandoval stepped to the plate and launched a solo shot that barely snuck over the left field wall to secure the Giants’ sixth straight series win.
The Giants’ fourth extra-inning walk-off win in the last six days created even more stress on an overwhelmed bullpen, but the unit rose to the occasion under difficult circumstances on Tuesday.
Kevin Pillar’s double off the very top of the left center field wall came within centimeters of ending the game in the bottom of the 10th, but the rest of the hitters who followed couldn’t bring him home. Sandoval was the player who grounded out to end the 10th inning, but he redeemed himself with his fourth career walk-off home run that moved the Giants into sole possession of second place in the NL West.
The night ended with a sterling performance from relievers Will Smith, Mark Melancon and Coonrod, but it began with an ace who sets the tone for a Giants team that’s won 17 of 20 for the first time since 2001.
In the two-decade history of the Giants’ waterfront ballpark, only a select group of celebrated pitchers have dominated quite like Bumgarner.
Matt Cain has thrown more innings in the stadium and Tim Lincecum has racked up a few more wins and a couple additional strikeouts, but Bumgarner’s 2.74 home ERA entering Tuesday’s outing at Oracle Park is the best of any pitcher who has held a regular rotation spot for the Giants.
If Tuesday’s start against the Cubs represented the potential end of a remarkable era, Bumgarner did everything his power to make sure it wasn’t.
The left-hander tossed seven innings of three-run ball against the Cubs, stranding the tying runner in scoring position in his final inning before walking off to a standing ovation from the 39,747 fans in attendance, the largest crowd at Oracle Park since Opening Day.
Bumgarner wasn’t perfect, but he extended his best stretch of the season against a first-place club and has now posted an ERA of 2.00 in his last six starts.
Scouts from several contending clubs were in the house to evaluate Bumgarner’s ability to help their teams, but the left-hander is hopeful the Giants will do enough from now through the July 31 trade deadline to keep him with the only franchise he’s ever known.
Bumgarner walked off the mound Tuesday with a chance to earn his 58th career win at Oracle Park, but the Cubs mounted an eighth-inning rally against Reyes Moronta and Tony Watson to tie the game for the third time.
The Giants brought outfielder Steven Duggar into San Francisco on Tuesday because of concerns over Alex Dickerson’s recent back tightness, but Dickerson didn’t have any issues during batting practice and was able to remain in the starting lineup to face Cubs starter Yu Darvish.
When Dickerson is healthy enough to play, the Giants don’t have anyone better.
The power-hitting left fielder recorded the Giants’ first hit, launching a leadoff double off the right center field wall in the bottom of the second. His 413-foot extra-base hit might be a home run at Oracle Park in 2020 if the Giants move the bullpens out to Triples Alley, but he wound up scoring anyway.
After Brandon Crawford advanced him to third, Dickerson came racing home on a Mike Yastrzemski sacrifice fly and narrowly beat an on-target throw from Cubs left fielder Kyle Schwarber. With a feet-first slide that took him toward the first base side of home plate, Dickerson snuck around the tag of catcher Victor Caratini to tie the game at 1-1.
The Giants fell behind 2-1 in the top of the third, but with one out in the fourth, Dickerson stepped to the plate and sent a 96-mile per hour fastball into the left field bleachers to knot the score again.
His sixth home run since joining the Giants injected energy and confidence into the home dugout and the rest of the offense responded by adding on in the fourth.