Pavin Smith clubbed a pinch-hit, walk-off two-run homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Arizona Diamondbacks a 4-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Monday night at Phoenix in the opener of a three-game series.
Jake McCarthy doubled to left field off Randy Rodriguez (1-1) and Smith followed by drilling a fastball that barely cleared the wall in center. The 424-foot blast gave Arizona its third straight victory.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit his 100th career homer and Blaze Alexander had two hits and one RBI for the Diamondbacks.
Heliot Ramos homered for the Giants, who lost their fifth straight game. Matt Chapman and Brett Wisely joined Ramos in having two hits.
Arizona’s Ryne Nelson gave up two runs and six hits over a career-best 7 2/3 innings. He struck out one and walked none.
A Diamondbacks’ challenge in the top of the ninth kept the game tied.
Chapman’s one-out infield single and Ramos’ two-out single off Ryan Thompson (3-2) gave the Giants runners at the corners. Jorge Soler followed with a bouncer to third and the throw by Eugenio Suarez was high and Soler was ruled to have touched the base before he was tagged by Arizona’s Christian Walker.
But the replay review displayed that Walker made the tag before Soler’s foot came down on the bag, erasing San Francisco’s go-ahead run and ending the inning.
A short time later, the Diamondbacks were wildly celebrating Smith’s second homer of the season.
San Francisco’s Spencer Howard entered the contest at the start of the second inning and Gurriel greeted him by smacking the third pitch over the fence in left. It was Gurriel’s eighth blast of the campaign.
One out later, Suarez tripled off the center field fence. He later scored on Alexander’s single to center.
The Giants got their first hit when Wisely led off the fourth with a single to right. Patrick Bailey grounded out to shortstop to advance Wisely, who then scored on Chapman’s double to center.
Ramos tied the score in the seventh when he drilled a one-out homer to center. The 420-foot blast, off a first-pitch slider, was his fourth of the season.
Erik Miller served as the opener for the Giants and allowed two hits in the first inning. Howard allowed two runs and four hits over 4 2/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
