Blake Sabol bombed a two-run, walk-off home run to straightaway center field with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night, allowing the host San Francisco Giants to counter a late St. Louis Cardinals rally and pull off a 5-4 victory.
After Paul Goldschmidt had broken a 2-2 tie in the top of the eighth with a two-run single as part of a three-run uprising, the Giants got a break in the last of the ninth when second baseman Tommy Edman misplayed Joc Pederson’s inning-opening grounder for an error.
Mike Yastrzemski followed with an RBI double to get San Francisco within 4-3 before Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley (0-2), seeking his fourth save of the season, got Thairo Estrada to pop up and struck out Brandon Crawford.
He then got Sabol down 1-2 on the count before the rookie crushed his fourth homer to give the Giants a fourth straight win.
Sean Hjelle (1-0), who pitched a scoreless top of the ninth with the Giants trailing 4-2, was credited with the win, the second of his major league career.
After five Giants pitchers had limited the Cardinals to one run and four hits through seven innings, the Cardinals, down 2-1, finally got their offense in gear when Dylan Carlson and Paul DeJong began the eighth with singles.
Tyler O’Neill got St. Louis even with an RBI double to right field.
With first base open, Giants manager Gabe Kapler chose to summon closer Camilo Doval, bring the infield in and pitch to Goldschmidt, who lined a shot that short-hopped shortstop Crawford and deflected into left-center field, allowing two runs to score.
Cardinals starter Jake Woodford worked 5 1/3 effective innings, allowing two runs and five hits. He walked one and struck out four.
The Giants’ scoring against Woodford began in the second when consecutive errors by Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras and center fielder Carlson on a successful Estrada steal of second allowed the baserunner to circle the bases.
Edman’s fourth homer of the season, a solo shot, got St. Louis even in the third before Yastrzemski went deep for the fifth time this season in the fourth, putting the Giants up 2-1.
Yastrzemski finished with two hits, two RBIs and two runs, while Sabol had a pair of hits for the Giants, who got four outs from opener John Brebbia to begin a parade of eight pitchers to the mound.
Goldschmidt, Contreras and Carlson had two hits apiece for the Cardinals, who lost for the fourth time in five games on their Western trip.
–Field Level Media
