The drama. Oh, the drama.
Monday night’s 7-6 comeback Giants win against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field had it all. Big-time defensive plays. Deep flies in the Windy City. Even an ejection.
And of course, late-game heroics.
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“These guys are really pushing hard, and it seems like for a lot of the year our at-bats get better later in the game,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said after the win.
Getting the biggest hit of the game out of your No. 8 hitter is quite the luxury, too.
Thairo Estrada took the first pitch he saw in the ninth inning and launched a three-run blast over the ivy and into the left-field bleachers to complete the Giants’ comeback for a second consecutive win. San Francisco’s second baseman hit a 94-mph fastball down and in 370 feet for his ninth homer of the year.
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After three straight hitless games, Estrada now is on a four-game hit streak behind back-to-back two-hit performances. The Giants now have five wins since May 22 when trailing by multiple runs in the eighth inning or later, per MLB’s Sarah Langs.
The Giants through the first five innings had the lone run of the day off a Mike Yastrzemski triple. Over the next four innings, the Giants and Cubs then combined for 12 runs, beginning with the Cubs scoring two in the bottom of the sixth. The Giants, however, just kept responding.
They then scored two runs in the top of the seventh, only for the Cubs to score four in the bottom half of the inning. The Giants’ response: One run in the eighth -- a solo shot by catcher Patrick Bailey off the scoreboard in right field to cut the deficit to two runs.
Along the way, the Giants also received two big throws from the outfield.
Melvin didn’t have to wait long to tip his cap to the outfield. Former Giant Mike Tauchman walked on four pitches to lead things off for the Cubs in the bottom of the first inning. He then curiously tried to test Michael Conforto from left field on a deep – but not too deep – fly ball from Christopher Morel, that then turned a walk into two quick outs.
A throw three innings later garnered much more attention.
With two on and one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, and the Giants up 1-0, Yatrzemski raced in from right field to catch a Cody Bellinger fly ball on the run. Yastrzemski without hesitation then unloaded for a perfect one-hop throw to home plate to gun Patrick Wisdom down in his tracks.
“They’re momentum swings,” Melvin said of the two throws.
For pitcher Jordan Hicks, both laser double plays that required perfect throws brought him back to his own days roaming the outfield.
“Obviously, the throw, that got me super excited,” Hicks said when asked about Yastrzemski’s run-saving play. “One of my favorite plays in baseball is the outfield assist. It’s almost like a lost art in this game.
“When it happens, it gets me going. I played outfield in high school and that was my favorite thing to do – to throw guys out.”
Finally, it was time for closer Camilo Doval to slam the door shut on the Cubs.
The 2023 MLB All-Star gave up four earned runs off four hits and two walks in a 13-6 win against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. It was the second time this month Doval had allowed four earned runs in an appearance, which is a career high for the 26-year-old.
Doval threw two straight balls to begin the bottom of the ninth, leaving many watching from home biting their nails and waiting for an ugly outcome. No drama necessary, though. Doval went three up and three down to flush his bad fortunes from the night prior, putting an exclamation on one of the crazier wins of the 2024 MLB season.
“That’s what he does,” Melvin said. “It was difficult bringing him in that game yesterday, because that’s all we had left and we’re trying to play chess with this thing and have certain guys available for a certain day and that’s not an ideal situation for a closer.
“Doesn’t surprise he came back and pitched the way he did today.”
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