Devers Powers Giants Past Angels in 10 Innings
SAN FRANCISCO (Interstat) — Rafael Devers’ ground-rule double in the bottom of the 10th inning drove in Jesus Rodriguez with the winning run as the San Francisco Giants edged the Los Angeles Angels 7-6 on Friday night at Oracle Park before 41,559 fans in a game that took 3 hours, 1 minute.
The Giants improved to 43-60, while the Angels dropped to 41-63.
Devers’ double was his 27th of the season and capped a wild back-and-forth contest that featured five lead changes and a tie in regulation. The game was tied at 6 after Vaughn Grissom’s two-run homer in the top of the eighth, and both teams had chances in the ninth and 10th before San Francisco broke through.
The Angels struck first in the top of the first. Zach Neto led off with a triple to right field, and after Mike Trout grounded out, Nolan Schanuel singled to right to score Neto for a 1-0 lead. The Giants answered immediately in the bottom half. Luis Arraez singled, but then Heliot Ramos grounded into a double play. Bryce Eldridge walked, and Devers followed with a two-run homer, his 21st, to give San Francisco a 2-1 edge.
The score remained 2-1 until the bottom of the third. Angels starter Grayson Rodriguez retired the first two batters, but Eldridge hit a ground-rule double. Rodriguez then intentionally walked Devers. Casey Schmitt made him pay, launching a three-run homer, his 21st, to push the Giants’ lead to 5-1. Rodriguez exited after four innings, having allowed five earned runs on six hits with three strikeouts.
The Angels began their comeback in the top of the fifth. Jo Adell singled, Denzer Guzman singled, and Tyler Heineman tripled to right field, scoring both Adell and Guzman to cut the deficit to 5-3. Heineman then scored on a sacrifice fly by Trout, making it 5-4. The Angels had the tying run at first with one out, but Jorge Soler grounded into a force play to end the inning.
Both bullpens took over from there. San Francisco added a run in the bottom of the seventh. Drew Gilbert walked, and after a sacrifice fly by Daniel Susac scored pinch-runner Grant McCray, the Giants led 6-4.
The Angels tied it in the top of the eighth. With one out, Soler singled. Grissom then homered to left, his sixth, scoring Soler and knotting the game at 6.
The game went to extra innings after neither team scored in the ninth. Angels closer Chase Silseth, who had entered in the ninth, worked a scoreless frame but remained on the mound for the 10th. In the bottom of the 10th, Jesus Rodriguez started the inning on second base under the extra-innings rule. Luis Arraez singled to left, putting runners at first and third. Heliot Ramos grounded out to Silseth for the first out, holding the runners. Bryce Eldridge walked to load the bases. Devers then hit a fly ball to left that bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double, scoring Rodriguez and ending the game.
Silseth took the loss, his record falling to 3-2. He allowed one earned run on two hits and two walks in one-third of an inning. Giants reliever Caleb Kilian earned the win, his third against six losses, after pitching a scoreless top of the 10th.
Angels pitchers, aside from Rodriguez, fared well. Grayson Rodriguez allowed six hits and five earned runs in four innings with three strikeouts. Ryan Zeferjahn pitched a scoreless sixth with one strikeout, Jose Fermin struck out two in a perfect seventh, and Brent Suter worked a clean fifth.
For the Giants, Logan Webb started and allowed four runs on six hits in five innings, with three strikeouts. The bullpen held the Angels scoreless in the sixth and seventh before Grissom’s homer off reliever Tyler Rogers in the eighth. The Giants defense turned two double plays and stranded eight runners.
Vaughn Grissom led the Angels offense, going 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored. He also played second base before shifting to first in the later innings. Tyler Heineman tripled, drove in two runs and scored once. Neto and Schanuel each had a hit, with Neto scoring once.
For the Giants, Devers finished 2-for-4 with the walk-off double, a home run, three RBI and two runs scored. Schmitt went 1-for-4 with a three-run homer. Arraez and Gilbert each had two hits. Jung Hoo Lee, Willy Adames and Drew Cavanaugh combined for one hit in 10 at-bats.
The Angels have lost three of their last four games and are 2-5 in their last seven. The Giants snapped a four-game losing streak with the victory.
The two teams meet again Saturday at Oracle Park, beginning a three-game series. The Angels then return home for a three-game set against Houston, while the Giants host Milwaukee before traveling to San Diego.
Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of San Francisco 5, Los Angeles 4. The ELO system gave the Giants a 58.40 percent probability to win. San Francisco was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5 runs. The total score of 13 went under the over-under line of 8.