The most indelible wins of 2021 so far
Over 162 games, no win is more important than any other. Each counts as one. That doesn’t mean some wins aren’t more memorable, more satisfying, for players and fans than other wins. What follows are what The Chronicle has chosen as the 15 most memorable and satisfying of the Giants’ 95 victories this season. One common thread in many of these tense games: LaMonte Wade Jr.
April 7, at San Diego, 3-2 (10): Donovan Solano’s sacrifice fly in the 10th gave the Giants the lead, and Wandy Peralta worked a three-up, three-down bottom of the 10th — getting the final two outs with the potential tying run at third — to nail down the save and a series win for San Francisco. Three weeks later, the Giants traded Peralta to the Yankees for Mike Tauchman.
May 28, at L.A. Dodgers, 8-5 (10): With the Giants one out from a 5-2 victory, Austin Barnes tagged Tyler Rogers for a three-run homer. The Dodgers then looked as if they’d won when Albert Pujols launched a drive over the left-field wall, but Tauchman’s spectacular catch sent the game to extra innings. Wade’s RBI single off Kenley Jansen in the 10th put the Giants ahead to stay.
June 12, at Washington, 2-1 (8): After getting shut out in the seven-inning opener of a doubleheader and going to “extra innings” 0-0 in the second game, the Giants scored twice in the eighth as Wade again provided the go-ahead RBI single. In the bottom of the inning, the Giants benefited from a baserunning mistake by Victor Robles that turned Josh Bell’s flyball to center into a double play.
June 15, vs. Arizona, 9-8: The Giants were down 7-0 in the second inning and still trailed 8-5 with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth. Mike Yastrzemski then unloaded on a 1-2 pitch from Humberto Castellanos and deposited it into McCovey Cove. Yastrzemski’s first career grand slam lifted the Giants to an improbable win and sent the Diamondbacks to their 21st consecutive road loss — a skid that would reach a major-league-record 24.
June 23, at L.A. Angels, 9-3 (13): The Giants’ Kevin Gausman (seven innings, one run, nine strikeouts) and the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani (six innings, one run, nine strikeouts) were mere afterthoughts in this mindbending affair. Among the highlights: Because of injuries and Joe Maddon’s lineup machinations, the Angels had a starting pitcher, Griffin Canning, playing left field for the final two innings. His sacrifice bunt opened the bottom of the 12th, which ended when another pitcher, Dylan Bundy, struck out as a pinch hitter. In between, the Angels appeared to have won the game when Juan Lagares was called safe at the plate on Luis Rengifo’s infield grounder. Replay showed Buster Posey’s tag got to Lagares just before he got to the plate. The Giants put seven runs on the board in the 13th, the final three coming on a Tauchman homer. He had gone 0-for-5 with five strikeouts before that at-bat.
June 26, vs. Oakland, 6-5 (11): Solano’s eighth-inning homer off Jake Diekman made it 4-4. The A’s scored a run in the top of the 10th before Steven Duggar’s RBI single retied the game. Duggar then motored home on a Curt Casali double, much to the delight of most of the 33,168 at Oracle Park.
July 21, at L.A. Dodgers, 4-2: A night after Will Smith’s threerun homer off Rogers in the ninth lifted the Dodgers to an 8-6 win, Wilmer Flores jolted Jansen for a two-run shot in the ninth to turn the Giants’ 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead. They added a run for insurance for a victory that boosted their lead in the NL West to two games over L.A.
July 22, at L.A. Dodgers, 5-3: Amazingly enough, for the third straight night, the team that led after eight innings wound up losing in nine. The Giants were down 3-1 with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth before an infield single by Thairo Estrada — Jason Vosler barely beat shortstop Chris Taylor’s throw to Sheldon Neuse at second — cut their deficit to a run. Darin
Ruf ’s check swing on a 3-2 Jansen pitch — the Dodgers believed Ruf went around — tied the game. On the next pitch, that man Wade pulled a single to right to bring home two runs, and the Giants headed home with a three-game cushion in the division.
Aug. 5, at Arizona, 5-4 (10): Down 4-0 entering the ninth, the Giants scored four times to tie it. The final two of those runs scored when — surprise — Wade drilled a 3-2 pitch for a single with two outs. Kris Bryant, acquired a week earlier from the Cubs, had started the ninth-inning rally with a double. His RBI double in the 10th proved to be the game-winner. The Giants thus won a game in which they trailed by four or more runs entering the ninth inning for the first time since April 18, 1993, when they beat Atlanta 13-12 in 11 innings.
Aug. 7, at Milwaukee, 9-6 (11): The Giants were down 2-1 with two outs in the ninth when Tommy La Stella lifted a flyball to deep right. Avisail Garcia should have caught it, but didn’t, and Bryant scored from first to tie the game. Each team scored three times in the 10th. The Giants pushed across four runs in the 11th. Wade — this is not a replay — singled home the go-ahead run and scored on Brandon Belt’s second homer of the night.
Aug. 8, at Milwaukee, 5-4: Belt’s pinch-hit two-run homer in the seventh inning made it a 4-4 game. La Stella’s RBI single in the eighth put the Giants on top. With his main late-inning relievers taxed from working the previous three days, manager Gabe Kapler went to Zack Littell, who got six outs for his first save in the majors.
Aug. 21, at Oakland, 6-5: The Giants trailed 5-2 in the seventh before back-to-back homers by Belt and Ruf cut their deficit to a run. Belt walked with one out in the ninth, then Wade, pinchhitting for Ruf, took Lou Trivino deep to right. Wade’s HR proved to be the difference in front of 36,230 at the Coliseum.
Aug. 22, at Oakland, 2-1: Another day, another late one-run deficit overcome by a pinch-hit homer. This time it was Solano, batting for Wade, with an eighth-inning drive to left off A.J. Puk. Jake McGee earned the save for the second straight game as the Giants won the season series from the A’s 4-2 though Oakland outscored San Francisco 21-19 in the six games.
Sept. 3, vs. L.A. Dodgers, 3-2 (11): The Dodgers came to Oracle Park tied with the Giants atop the NL West. In this opener of a three-game series, the Giants led 1-0 with two outs in the ninth before Taylor’s bloop single brought home Justin Turner with the tying run. Each team scored once in the 10th, the Giants on an RBI single by Brandon Crawford. In the top of the 11th, his strong throw from shortstop cut down Turner at the plate, enabling Jarlín García to throw a scoreless inning. With the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 11th, Posey hit a ball to the right side. Trea Turner gloved it, but his throw pulled Smith off the bag at first. After a lengthy review, Posey was ruled safe, meaning Belt had scored the winning run and the Giants had regained sole possession of first place in the division.
Sept. 8, at Colorado, 7-4: Heading to the ninth down 4-3, the Giants loaded the bases with no outs against closer Carlos Estévez. Wade — who else? — fell behind 1-2 before lining a two-run single to right. That made him 9-for-15 with nine RBIs in ninthinning at-bats this season. With two outs, Evan Longoria doubled home two more to give McGee some breathing room to record his 30th save. The Giants grabbed their 90th win of the season and headed to Chicago in first place in the NL West.