Tyler Fitzgerald, who was picked off to end the ninth inning, raced home as the 10th-inning automatic runner on a two-out, two-strike wild pitch by Atlanta Braves reliever Pierce Johnson, giving the host San Francisco Giants a 5-4 victory on Friday.
After Spencer Bivens stranded the bases loaded in the top of the 10th, Fitzgerald advanced from second to third on Jung Hoo Lee’s grounder that resulted in the inning’s second out. Fitzgerald then dashed to the plate when Braves catcher Sean Murphy couldn’t track down Johnson’s errant curveball in the dirt.
Bivens (2-2) was credited with the win, the Giants’ third straight.
The Braves, who rallied from an early 3-0 deficit to force extra innings, dropped their fifth straight. Johnson (1-2) took the loss.
Jumping right back into action one day after allowing seven runs in the ninth inning of an 11-10 loss to the San Diego Padres, the Braves dug themselves an immediate hole in San Francisco when two errors contributed to a three-run Giants first.
Fighting an uphill battle, the Braves finally drew even in the seventh on a two-run home run by Matt Olson, his 13th of the season.
Atlanta got within 3-2 in the fourth when Murphy hit a sacrifice fly and a second run scored on a throwing error by Giants center fielder Lee.
In the fifth, San Francisco’s Dominic Smith lofted his second sacrifice fly of the night, creating the two-run cushion that Olson eventually erased.
The Giants’ big first off Braves starter Spencer Schwellenbach was ignited by inning-opening singles from Heliot Ramos, Lee and Wilmer Flores, with Flores driving in a run. Smith made it 2-0 with his first sacrifice fly before a Schwellenbach wild pitch plated Flores with the third run.
Schwellenbach made it through six innings, charged with four runs (three earned) on six hits. He walked two and struck out four.
Giants starter Hayden Birdsong was pulled one out into the fifth. He allowed two runs on two hits. He walked five, struck out five and exited with a 3-2 lead.
Ramos had three hits and Flores, who was at the plate at the time of the walk-off wild pitch, collected a pair for the Giants, who out-hit the visitors 8-6. The walk-off win was San Francisco’s seventh of the season.
Olson scored twice and Michael Harris II had two hits for the Braves, who were opening a six-game trip.
–Field Level Media
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