If there’s a day game being played at Oracle Park this year, it looks like there’s a pretty good chance the Giants are going to walk it off. San Francisco is a perfect 6-0 in the afternoon at 3rd & King. Five of those six wins came in walk-off fashion, with a pair of bottom of the ninth winners that had a combined exit velocity that wouldn’t raise CHP eyebrows.
First, a low scoring Saturday affair took a 2-2 tie into the home half of the ninth. Heliot Ramos roped a leadoff single up the middle, then he and Lamonte Wade Jr. were advanced to second and third on a sac bunt from Christian Koss. Patrick Bailey, who has endured a lackluster April at the dish, dug in with the winning run just 90 feet away. His game winning base hit shows up as a line drive in the box score.
The Oracle Park faithful loved every second of it.
After trailing by two runs Saturday and winning 3-2, the Sunday Giants faced the same deficit after a two-run first inning from the Rangers. Jordan Hicks settled down and then some, turning in five strong innings without surrendering a walk. After a shaky start, Hicks firmly kept the Giants in the ballgame Sunday.
He was supplemented out of the bullpen by Hayden Birdsong, who built on an already stellar beginning to 2025 in a surprising long relief role. On a day in which the Giants were playing their 17th game in as many days, Birdsong offered longevity to a taxed bullpen throwing three scoreless frames in the sixth, seventh and eighth.
The Giants have constantly found ways to win games in which they’ve trailed so far. The club now has 10 wins in games that it has trailed by two or more runs. It’s fostered a belief in the clubhouse, a belief that things will just go right late in close games. Anyone scoffing at that notion before Sunday had to eat their words at least for the rest of the evening after the one pitch ninth inning that gave the Giants their second straight walk-off win. By now you’ve seen it, and probably watched it over and over again during the last 24 hours.
Here’s how it sounded on KNBR.
An exhausted Heliot Ramos just wanted to get to first base. He ended up running sprints for the win.
Notes:
Ryan Walker bounced back spectacularly after what was unequivocally the worst week of his MLB career on Sunday in Anaheim and Wednesday night against the Brewers. He credited his family and his teammates for lifting him back to form with a trio of bounce back outings.
Re-live the excellent Brandon Crawford ceremony on Saturday through KNBR’s coverage below: