The Brandons get it done in 9th for SF Giants walk-off win

Lately, the SF Giants have alternated big offensive outbursts with games where the offense was almost silent. Sunday they won by double-digits for their biggest win of the year, but Monday the bats were flat until the last few innings in a low-scoring, one-run loss to Arizona.

Tuesday's win over the Diamondbacks represented an improvement on the biggest margin of victory in 2022. But in the series finale on Wednesday, the Giants trailed by three going into the bottom of the seventh, with only one hit to their credit...before staging a furious comeback and winning in the bottom of the ninth, as Brandon Crawford's walk-off single with the bases loaded gave San Francisco a 4-3 victory and the series win.

Tied at three apiece in the ninth, Brandon Belt opened with a single and motored around to third base on a Mike Yastrzemski double. A four-pitch walk to David Villar loaded the bases, and Crawford, still trying to regain the health and batting stroke that led to an All-Star season in 2021, roped a Mark Melancon first-pitch offering to right field, off the glove of a leaping Arizona outfielder, to drive in Belt and send the crowd into a frenzy.

A planned bullpen game, things got dicey in the early-going for the Orange and Black. John Brebbia served as the opener and tossed a scoreless first inning despite issuing a walk and allowing a hit, both with one out; a caught-stealing from Austin Wynns ended the frame.

Sam Long came on for the second and the Diamondbacks jumped on him, plating two runs on a double, single and triple. In the third, Long allowed a solo home run to put Arizona in front, 3-0.

Other than a Thairo Estrada second-inning double and a handful of walks, the Giants weren't able to threaten Zac Gallen until the seventh. In that inning, Belt got the Giants on the board with a home run, his seventh of the season. Estrada then singled and Yastrzemski doubled, allowing Villar to knock in a run with a sacrifice fly to pull San Francisco within one.

Flores remains hot

Wilmer Flores, with seven hits (including three home runs) in his last four games, pinch-hit for Wynns to lead off the eighth and did it again; his 13th homer of the season tied the game.

In the top of the ninth, Camilo Doval struck out two and allowed a two-out double, but he shut down the threat with a groundout to put the Giants in position to walk it off.

The Giants remain 12 games behind Los Angeles in the NL West and are only one game out of the final Wild Card position with an important four-game series against NL Central-leading Milwaukee starting Thursday.