Giants beat Dodgers 3-2 in 11th on error, take NL West lead

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Buster Posey could exhale at last, his teammates knowing better than to dog pile on their 34-yearold catcher celebrating a wild, 4 1/2-hour game that put San Francisco atop the NL West.

“They know they need to be careful with me,” Posey cracked.

Second baseman Trea Turner threw wildly on Posey’s bases-loaded, twoout grounder in the 11th inning and a lengthy video review upheld the safe call as the Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 on Friday night to grab first place.

“From my vantage point it looked like he was off. I knew it was really close,” Posey said. “I was hoping that it held up on replay.”

The rivals began the night tied for the division lead. The Giants nearly won in the ninth, but Posey missed a defensive play on the bases and the Dodgers rallied to tie it at 1.

After both teams scored in the 10th, San Francisco loaded the bases in the 11th against Evan Phillips ( 1-1), the Dodgers’ 11th pitcher.

Posey hit a grounder to Turner, who had plenty of time but zipped a throw that pulled first baseman Will Smith off the bag — normally a catcher, Smith had never played the position in college or as a pro before entering in the 10th.

Smith desperately tried to reach back to tag first base as Posey crossed and Brandon Belt raced home from third. With fans chanting ‘” Safe! Safe!” and players on both sides watching and waiting, the safe call was confirmed.

“It was a little bit higher throw, I was stretched out fully for it, I thought I kept my foot on, umpire thought otherwise, then went back and looked at replay,” Smith said. “It’s pretty close, couldn’t overturn it I guess.”