Hunter Pence delivers game-winning hit in emotional walk-off win for Giants

They observed the grind. They witnessed his struggles. And above all, they experienced the challenges he faced alongside them.

So when Hunter Pence hit a dribbler past Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer to send the Giants home with a 3-2 walk-off win in the bottom of the 11th inning Sunday, the Giants raced out of the dugout like they had just won a playoff game.

They embraced Pence, a .193 hitter entering Sunday’s contest, with the biggest bear hugs imaginable and wore smiles brighter than the sun that shined down on AT&T Park for the matinee affair.

There might not be many of these moments left for the elder statesman of the Giants club, but Pence and his teammates enjoyed every second of it as San Francisco clinched a series victory.

After the first-place Diamondbacks and the second-place Dodgers both swept their opponents this weekend, the Giants couldn’t afford to fall another game back in the National League West standings by splitting a series against the last-place Padres.

The difference between a 5-2 start and a 4-3 start to a homestand that began with series against the Marlins and Padres is gigantic, especially for a Giants club that hasn’t finished a day over .500 in two weeks.

With Johnny Cueto and Jeff

GIANTS / 10 The San Francisco Giants’ Buster Posey hits a double against the San Diego Padres in the sixth inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Sunday.