Giants: S.F. rebounds from rough 9th inning to win in the 10th
MILWAUKEE — In a season so utterly demoralizing and so much worse than even the gravest pessimist could have predicted, it might make no sense at all or all the sense in the world that one of the Giants’ best wins grew from the ashes of an alarming failure.
The Giants beat the Brewers 9-5 in 10 innings Thursday after Mark Melancon blew a two-run lead in the ninth inning before he got an out. Another loss seemed assured with runners still on the corners and nobody out.
Then, Eduardo Nuñez happened.
After Melancon struck out Domingo Santana, catcher Jett Bandy smoked a ball that had “game-winning hit” written on the sweet spot until Nuñez leaped to spear it for the second out.
A fired-up Melancon looked at Nuñez, said, “Thank you. Great play,” then got the final out on a groundball. Melancon blew his third save in 14 save opportunities, but he “saved” a 5-5 tie.
The Giants’ dugout was afire when the game moved into extras. The Giants converted that energy into four runs against reliever Jacob Barnes for a victory, a split of the four games at Miller Park and a 3-4 trip.
“The dugout was awesome,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “Everyone was so excited that Mark kept them from winning the game. They were fighting. I know things haven’t been going great. We know we’ve dug ourselves a hole. All you can do is keep going. I’m proud of them. They were determined not to lose.”
Gorkys Hernandez started the winning rally with his third single. Kelby Tomlinson executed a perfect hit-and-run single through the spot that shortstop Orlando Arcia vacated to cover a throw to second.
Pinch-hitter Hunter Pence bounced the go-ahead single through the middle of a drawnin infield, and the Giants added runs on a Denard Span double, Nuñez’s single and a Joe Panik sacrifice fly.
Derek Law pitched the final inning in a game that will be remembered in one family for Austin Slater’s first big-league homer, a 461-footer, the longest by a Giants hitter in two seasons and farther than any ball that Bronx Bomber Aaron Judge has hit.
Otherwise, it will be remembered for Nuñez’s leaping catch, which he declared should not be a surprise.
“I’ve played basketball all my life,” Nuñez said, although he is more of a scorer than a rebounder.
“At that point,” Bochy said, “we needed a break.”
Melancon had no command in his first blown save since April 30, allowing a leadoff homer by Eric Sogard and walking Eric Thames. Jesus Aguilar appeared to drive in the tying run with a double to left, but the ball stuck underneath the leftfield wall for a ground-rule double and Thames was sent back to third.
Travis Shaw got the job done anyhow with a single past Brandon Crawford before Melancon, in Bochy’s words, “bowed his neck” and kept the game alive.
Credit also must go to relievers Bryan Morris, Josh Osich and Hunter Strickland, who pitched three hitless innings after Johnny Cueto went five. Cueto was in line for his ninth straight win against the Brewers after the Giants took a 5-3 lead in the sixth on Aaron Hill’s pinch RBI double and a scoring single by Nuñez.
Slater started that rally with a walk, two innings after he homered off spot starter Paulo Espino. The ball caromed back to the field after hitting part of the stadium structure in leftcenter, so Slater got the ball back immediately.
Not 24 hours earlier, Bochy said one of the young left fielders needs to relax and commandeer the job. Slater was on it.
“Honestly, I felt I was getting more comfortable in my first start here Tuesday,” he said. “In my first two in Philly, everything was moving quickly.”