SAN FRANCISCO — What looked like it would be a just a decent homestand turned into a pretty strong one in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday. Matt Duffy hit a walk-off single and the Giants got a 3-2 walk-off win over the Marlins that was their seventh victory of the 10-game homestand.
The Giants trailed by a run heading into the bottom of the ninth, but Andrew Susac got a one-out single and Gregor Blanco followed with a double off the wall. After an intentional walk of pinch-hitter Buster Posey, Angel Pagan struck out. Steve Cishek did not allow an earned run in his first 13 appearances against the Giants, but he walked Nori Aoki with the bases loaded. Duffy followed with a hard single through the left side that sent 40,000 home happy.
On a day when both pitchers were sharp, the Marlins struck first. Christian Yelich singled and stole second in the fourth inning and old friend Michael Morse drove a hanging slider into Triples Alley, putting the Marlins up 1-0.
Smallball got the Giants on the board in the sixth inning. Aoki led off with a single and stole second, and Duffy did a good job of putting an 0-2 pitch into play, moving Aoki to third with a slow grounder to short. Adeiny Hechavarria temporarily kept the Marlins ahead, making a diving stop of Joe Panik’s grounder to get the out at first and keep Aoki at third.
Brandon Belt didn’t wait around, lining the first pitch he saw from Mat Latos into left field to bring Aoki home and tie the game.
Ryan Vogelsong cruised through the seventh and turned it over to Sergio Romo, who gave up back-to-back hits with one out. After striking out Martin Prado, Romo was pitching carefully to Ichiro Suzuki when he yanked a changeup to the backstop, allowing Donovan Solano to race home from third.
The Giants caught a break in the top of the ninth when Marlins third-base coach Brett Butler sent Yelich to the plate on Morse’s single with no outs. Yelich was out by a mile and a rally was thwarted. The Giants would have one of their own minutes later.
Starting pitching report: In two starts since that brutal one in Los Angeles, Vogelsong has allowed just one run and seven hits over 14 innings. He went seven strong in both his starts on this homestand, lowering his ERA from 9.31 to 5.67.
Bullpen report: See above, re: Romo. The lefties continue to give him some trouble.
At the plate: Belt is 14 for 29 over the past eight games, raising his average from .214 to .306. The first baseman is a .270 career hitter, but he has never had his average above .300 this late in the season.
In the field: Brandon Crawford got a start off, but his glove-flip partner still found a way to make the highlight reel. Panik glove flipped from about 15 feet away from Belt in the seventh inning to rob Yelich of what would have been a slow infield single.
Attendance: The Giants announced a crowd of 41,889 mothers and others.
Up next: A day off! After that, the Giants go to Houston and Cincinnati, so this would be a good week for certain players to bolster their home run totals. Chris Heston and Tim Hudson go the two games in Houston, with righty Collin McHugh (4-0, 3.23) and lefty Brett Oberholtzer (season debut) starting for the Stros.
