SAN FRANCISCO -- Michael Wacha's latest appearance at AT&T Park ended with another walk-off win for the Giants.
Brandon Belt led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to right and advanced when Kevin Siegrist walked Buster Posey. With one out, Gregor Blanco drew a walk, loading the bases for Kelby Tomlinson, who hit a grand slam Thursday. This time Tomlinson smashed a single up the middle, giving the Giants a 5-4 walk-off win over the Cardinals.
This game would have played out much differently had infielders simply executed in the first four innings. Two errors loaded the bases for Marlon Byrd in the third, and he blasted an elevated curveball from Wacha over the fence in left-center. The grand slam was the second in two days for the Giants and gave them a franchise-record eight this season.
Mike Leake retired the first nine hitters he faced but ran into trouble in the fourth. He almost got out of the inning, but Ehire Adrianza bobbled a throw to second and couldn’t complete what would have been an inning-ending double play. A batter later, Stephen Piscotty lined a two-run double to left.
A couple hustle plays tied the game in the sixth. Tommy Pham hit a leadoff single and took second on a fly ball to right when he noticed Byrd was going to catch it flat-footed. He tagged up on another fly to right and took third, and then scored when Leake spiked a breaking ball to Kolten Wong with two outs and two strikes.
Blanco’s bunt forced a wild throw and brought the winning run home in an NLCS game last October, and Blanco again reached on a bunt when Jonathan Broxton threw it into right field in the eighth. Blanco reached third with one out but was stranded.
Starting pitching report: Leake was charged with four earned runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings. This was his first home start as a Giant.
Bullpen report: Josh Osich entered with two on and got Jason Heyward and Matt Carpenter. He has a 1.80 ERA and 1.00 WHIP in 18 appearances this season.
At the plate: Byrd's grand slam was the eighth of his career and gave him three homers and 10 RBI in his first week with the Giants.
In the field: Mark Reynolds stopped on his way back to the dugout and watched a replay on the scoreboard to see how he got thrown out in the third inning. Reynolds had hit a high chopper over the mound that Leake deflected as he ran toward center filed. Adrianza scooped it and made a strong throw to first for the 1-6-3 out.
Attendance: The Giants announced a crowd of 41,577. They got to hear Leake debut “The Hills” by The Weeknd as his walk-up choice.
Up next: Ryan Vogelsong will try to shake off a rough outing. He’ll face Lance Lynn, who is 10-8 with a 2.94 ERA but has had some trouble with the Giants in the past.
