Closer Smith finishes off Phillies with his arm and his bat in Giants’ wild 9-6victory.
SAN FRANCISCO >> With the game on the line, there’s no one the Giants would rather have on the mound than closer Will Smith.
At the plate? They’ll take Smith, too.
“In the second or third inning, we were talking in the dugout about how he needs to get an at-bat,” second baseman Scooter Gennett said. “He was like, ‘I rake.’ ”
In his seventh major league season, Smith grabbed a bat for the first time out of necessity in the eighth inning of Sunday night’s game against the Phillies. What followed was the defining highlight of the Giants’ season.
The hard-throwing lefthander stood in the righthanded batter’s box and took a hack at a Nick Pivetta fastball in a 3-1 count. His barrel found the ball and sent it curving just inside the right field foul line for a two-run single that stands as the most improbable moment of the pitcher’s — or slugger’s — career.
After laughing his way up the first base line, Smith returned to the mound, shut down the Phillies and sealed the Giants’ seriesclinching 9-6 victory.
“That was probably the peak of my fun-ness on a baseball field,” Smith said.
Smith entered the game in the top of the eighth for a rare chance at a five-out save after set-up man Tony Watson’s recent struggles continued. Watson surrendered a single and a double before manager Bruce Bochy called on Smith, who received a blown save for allowing a game-tying sacrifice fly to the first batter he faced.
In the bottom of the eighth, Kevin Pillar gave the Giants the lead again with a triple into the right center field gap to score Evan Longoria. With two outs and Smith’s spot due up after shortstop Brandon Crawford, the Phillies opted to intentionally walk Crawford.
Bochy initially sent Pablo Sandoval into the on-deck circle and had right-hander Sam Coonrod warming up in the home bullpen. It was all a bluff, as Bochy wanted Smith, his eighth different pitcher, to stay on for the ninth inning.
“I think they knew I wasn’t going to take my closer out of the game,” Bochy said.
Smith’s single sent Oracle Park into a frenzy, but a highlight-reel swing nearly ended up as a blooper clip. Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper picked up the ball and flung it toward first base. Had his throw been on target, Smith would have been out.
“If that throw is on line, I’m definitely out for sure,” Smith said. “But I would have made Bochy challenge it.”
The dramatic win over the Phillies helped the Giants (59-60) move within a game of .500 and served as a perfect example of how a roster without any everyday All-Stars can still succeed.
The team’s new second baseman, Gennett, was an All-Star last year, but nowadays, he’s trying to prove to the Giants he belongs. After the club cut a beloved figure in the clubhouse and community, second baseman Joe Panik, last week, Gennett helped his cause.
With a sixth-inning solo shot that landed in McCovey Cove, Gennett gave the Giants the lead and gave himself some breathing room.
“I think I’m getting (more comfortable), I wouldn’t say I’m back to where I want to be, but we’re getting close,” Gennett said.
After struggling against Phillies starter Jake Arrieta last week in Philadelphia, the Giants forced manager Gabe Kapler to remove the right-hander following three ineffective innings on Sunday.
San Francisco took a 2-0 lead against the 2015 National League Cy Young Award winner before Arrieta recorded an out.
Kapler sent a reliever to the visiting bullpen shortly after Longoria rolled a tworun single up the middle, but a strikeout from Gennett and a double play from Pillar prevented the Giants from doing any further damage in the first.
Both Gennett and Pillar played leading roles in the rally that ultimately ended Arrieta’s night as Gennett’s RBI double brought home Longoria before Pillar hit a game-tying single into left field to score Gennett.
Jeff Samardzija’s outstanding outing on Saturday led the Giants to a 3-1 win, but it also gave all but Smith a much-needed day of rest. Samardzija’s eight innings turned out to be crucial for the club on Sunday, as rookie Conner Menez recorded just five outs in his third career start.
Menez, 24, ripped right through the top of the Phillies lineup in the first inning, striking out sluggers Harper and Rhys Hoskins before inducing a flyout from Jean Segura to end the frame. His fortunes changed in the second as the left-hander walked the first two hitters he faced before sandwiching two more strikeouts around a single.
Menez had the chance to end a laborious inning without allowing a run, but he issued a two-out bases loaded walk and gave up a two-run single to Harper that forced Bochy to turn to his bullpen.
In addition to Smith, relievers Jandel Gustave and Trevor Gott also recorded their first career plate appearances as the Giants became the first team since the Reds on September 21, 1934 to have three pitchers step into the box for the first time in the same game.