San Francisco – The Giants celebrated another walk-off win but this one felt more special. San Francisco hosted their rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight, the team announced at the top of the sixth inning that Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda passed away.
”Every time we step on the field, I just feel lucky to be there, to wear the uniform, and to play this game,” Brett Wisely said.
Wisely blasted a two-run homer off Blake Treinen for the walk-off win to defeat the Dodgers in the series opener 5-3.
Wisely’s home run came on a pitch where the Giants thought he hit a liner that hit the glove of LA’s first baseman Freddie Freeman but ended up slicing foul. San Francisco challenged the call and lost the challenge. Wisely next at-bat went over the wall towards McCovey Cove.
“(If the call was reversed), it’s a double and we’re in pretty good position to win the game anyway,” said Giants manager Bob Melvin. “I think Wise would take (the home run) over the double.”
Wisely’s walk-off homer, the 31st such walk-off in team history against the Dodgers, places him in an elite class. Cepeda also hit a walk-off home run against the Dodgers on August 18, 1961.
Wisely’s walk-off hit followed a wild late-inning run by both teams.
The Giants clawed back from a two-run hole to take a 3-2 lead after Luis Matos and Matt Chapman hit solo homers in the fifth and sixth frames, respectively, capitalizing on a strong outing by Giants ace Logan Webb.
Webb kept the Giants in the game, pitching seven solid innings, allowing just two runs on five hits with six strikeouts and three walks. He held the Dodgers to just two hits in the first four innings before LA took an early lead in the fifth.
Webb started his day by striking out both Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith.
“I thought I made some pitches that I shouldn’t have,” Webb said. “(Pitches that) I shouldn’t have thrown, and I was just mad at myself, and I put the team in the hole again. I feel like I’ve done that a lot lately.”
Webb made up for his rough fifth inning by starting a 1-6-3 double-play on a grounder by Freeman straight to the mound. He fielded another 1-6-3 inning-ending double play in the seventh inning before striking out Lux to end the inning.
During his postgame press conference, Melvin said that he considered keeping Webb out there for the eighth inning, however, sent in Tyler Rogers in the eighth instead.
”There was a decision on whether to let (Webb) go out again,” Melvin explained. “I don’t know if I want him throwing 115 pitches and I think he leads the league in innings at this point. So, we would be asking him to do a lot and our seven-eight-nine guys are pretty good.”
Webb is tied with Seattle’s Logan Gilbert for most innings in the big leagues (112.1 innings).
Although Rogers held the Giants in the eighth, Doval struggled to shut the door in the ninth.
With the Giants up 3-2, Doval allowed Andy Pages to triple to lead off the inning. Pages took Doval deep, and it looked like centerfielder Luis Matos made the running catch, however, the ball came out of his glove, allowing Pages to reach third. Pages scored on the following at-bat on a sacrifice fly to left by Jason Heyward, who hit another Doval pitch hard and deep to left.
Melvin did not comment on Doval’s continued struggles in his post-game conference.
The win is the Giant’s fourth in their last five games after taking three of four from the Chicago Cubs earlier in the week. They will look to extend their run on Saturday afternoon’s nationally televised game on FOX at 4:!5 p.m.
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