Field Level Media
Sep 5, 2024
Patrick Bailey bounced a ground-rule double over the left-center field fence with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Tyler Fitzgerald and allow the San Francisco Giants to walk off the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2 on Thursday afternoon.
Bailey drove in all three runs for the Giants, whose starter Blake Snell -- the National League Pitcher of the Month for August -- was pulled after one laborious inning.
Neither team had scored since the fourth inning when Fitzgerald led off the ninth with his second hit of the day, a single off Diamondbacks reliever Kevin Ginkel (7-3).
Bailey then bombed a shot behind and between the Arizona left and center fielders, giving the Giants their 11th walk-off win of the season.
Ryan Walker (9-3), who pitched a scoreless 1 1/3 innings, was credited with the win.
The Diamondbacks did all their scoring while Snell was on the mound for 42 pitches in the first inning.
The left-hander served up a game-opening single to Geraldo Perdomo, but then the ball never left in infield in a seven-batter span that included two walks, an infield single, a run-scoring throwing error by shortstop Fitzgerald and a passed ball by catcher Bailey on a third strike that could have ended the inning at 1-0.
The Giants rallied into a tie with a two-run fourth. Bailey made up for his catching gaffe with a two-out single that plated the runs after Michael Conforto had singled and Matt Chapman doubled.
Arizona starter Merrill Kelly went seven innings, allowing two runs and six hits. He struck out eight without issuing a walk.
Fitzgerald, Bailey and Conforto had a double and a single apiece for the Giants (69-72), who snapped a four-game losing streak and kept their fleeting NL playoff hopes alive.
Perdomo collected a pair of singles for the Diamondbacks (79-62), the second-place team in the NL wild-card race. Arizona, which had put up a total of 14 runs in winning the first two games of the series, was outhit 9-4.
--Field Level Media