SAN FRANCISCO — Patrick Bailey knew it. His teammates knew it. The sellout crowd knew it.
Bailey delivered a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-1 on Friday night at Oracle Park, bringing the Giants even closer to the third and final NL wild card spot.
Christian Koss began the bottom of the 10th inning as the automatic runner on second base as a pinch-runner for Wilmer Flores. Matt Chapman began the inning with a groundout, advancing Koss to third base with one out. With Jung Hoo Lee due up, left-hander Tanner Scott was summoned from the bullpen.
Following Lee’s unintentional walk, the Dodgers elected to intentionally walk Casey Schmitt to load the bases with one out for Bailey, who sent a no-doubt grand slam over the left-field fence.
With the New York Mets losing to the Texas Rangers on Friday, their seventh straight loss, the Giants are only 0.5 games back of the third and final NL wild card spot.
Luis Matos began the bottom of the ninth by reaching base as a pinch-hitter when Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts made a throwing error that first baseman Freddie Freeman couldn’t pick out of the dirt.
After Heliot Ramos struck out, Rafael Devers singled on a grounder to right field and Matos advanced to third base. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went to Blake Treinen with runners at the corners and one out, then intentionally walked Willy Adames to load the bases for Wilmer Flores, who entered the game when Dominic Smith injured himself in the fourth inning.
With an 0-1 count, Flores sent a sweeper from Treinen to shallow center field. Grant McCray, who entered to pinch-run for Matos, challenged the right arm of Pages. Pages’ throw arrived with feet to spare. McCray was out, the inning was over and the game was going to extras.
McCray immediately redeemed himself in the top of the 10th inning. Following an intentional walk of Shohei Ohtani, Betts skied a fly ball to McCray in right field. Ben Rortvedt, the automatic runner, challenged McCray, who delivered a dart for the double play.
Justin Verlander delivered a vintage outing in his biggest start as a Giant, allowing one run over seven innings with four strikeouts and dropping his ERA on the year to 3.94.
The Giants struck first in the bottom of the first, taking a quick 1-0 lead. Rafael Devers set the table with a one-out walk, then scored from first on a double to left-center field by Willy Adames. Devers would’ve likely pulled up at third if Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages picked the ball up cleanly, but Pages’ fumble gave Devers a window to score (Adames received no RBI).
With two on and two out in the top of the fourth, Pages pulled a grounder into the six-hole. Third baseman Matt Chapman, who successfully appealed his one-game suspension, made a diving stop and fired to first. Dominic Smith, cognizant of Pages’ speed, stretched as far as his body would allow, inadvertently doing the splits in the process. Pages was out; Smith was hurt.
As Smith collected himself alongside assistant athletic trainer Ryo Watanabe, Roberts challenged the ruling on the field. If Pages was safe, the game would be tied.
The ruling on the field stood and the Giants maintained their 1-0 lead, but Smith’s night was over with a right thigh injury. In the bottom of the fourth, Wilmer Flores pinch-hit for Smith.
The Giants maintained their one-run lead until the top of the seventh when the Dodgers finally broke the dam. Verlander served up a middle-middle four-seam fastball to former Giant Michael Conforto, and Conforto blasted the heater over the center-field fence. With one swing, Conforto tied the game at one apiece.
Following Conforto’s blast, Los Angeles threatened for more. Ben Rortvedt, the Dodgers’ No. 9 hitter, doubled off the left-field wall with two outs, putting the tying run in scoring position. With a base open, manager Bob Melvin elected to intentionally walk one MVP in Shohei Ohtani to get to another MVP in Betts.
With Verlander’s pitch count at 104, Melvin had right-hander Joel Peguero and left-hander Joey Lucchesi ready and warmed in the bullpen. Melvin, instead, stuck with Verlander to face Betts for a fourth time — an inherently risky gambit.
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On his final pitch of the night, Verlander reached back for 95.5 mph four-seam fastball and got Mookie Betts to hit into an inning-ending fly out. As Verlander walked off the mound, he was greeted with a raucous standing ovation.
Following Verlander’s departure, San Francisco’s bullpen kept the game tied at one. Lucchesi pitched a scoreless eighth, working around his plunking of Max Muncy, while Ryan Walker retired the side in the ninth.
