Patrick Bailey smacked the initial of three RBI singles in a four-run 10th inning, propelling the San Francisco Giants to a 9-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
Bailey kicked off the scoring spree with a single to right off Carmen Mlodzinski (0-1), bringing in automatic runner Thairo Estrada. Following suit, Jorge Soler lined one up in the middle to score Matt Chapman. Brett Wisely’s sacrifice fly brought Bailey home, before Luis Matos added another RBI single.
Ryan Walker (4-2) managed one strikeout in a flawless ninth inning for San Francisco. The Giants had relinquished a 6-2 lead in the ninth inning the previous night, eventually falling 7-6 in 10 innings to start the series.
“This win was crucial for us,” Giants manager Bob Melvin emphasized. “Had we come back but not won, it would’ve felt like another extremely tough loss.”
Chapman contributed with a two-run homer against Pittsburgh rookie Jared Jones in the sixth inning, following Soler’s RBI single an inning earlier, narrowing the five-run deficit to 5-3.
Aroldis Chapman walked the first three Giants batters in the eighth inning before being replaced by Colin Holderman. Despite Bailey striking out, LaMonte Wade Jr. managed to score from third on a fielder’s choice just in front of the plate from Soler. The inning ended with Heliot Ramos striking out.
“Poor command of the ball, plain and simple,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Aroldis Chapman. “After throwing the first two strikes to LaMonte, he lost control of the strike zone.”
Holderman allowed a two-out single in the ninth to Matos, who advanced to second on an error by Bryan Reynolds in left field. Wade then tied the game 5-5 with an RBI single to right.
