By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–A two out, two-run pinch-hit homer in the ninth to tie. One run in the tenth to win.. against the first-place Diamondbacks on getaway day?

Yes, it was unquestionably the Giants’ best win of the season so far.  And one that will be hard to top no matter which path the club takes in the remainder of 2018.

Alen Hanson’s game-tying homer off closer Brad Boxberger was so clutch and dramatic, it may have earned the utilityman a role with the club for the foreseeable future. It was so unfathomable, the entirety of AT&T Park paused as the ball approached the bricks in the right field pavilion, then lost it when the ball landed.

Biggest moment, best hit, best win. This one had the feel.

“Great win for us,” manager Bruce Bochy said.

The Giants are back to .500 again. 31-31, the 13th time they’ve evened their record so far this season. But this time, they finally stood up to Arizona, while capping a terrific, 5-1 home stand.

Until the ninth inning, the Giants were competitive, but inexorably facing a tough defeat. Chris Stratton, looking for his eighth win, was stingy again, but gone in the fifth. Paul Goldschmidt–who had two hits off Stratton–got two more hits after his departure, both scoring runs, and the Diamondbacks appeared safe, leading 4-2, and needing just three more outs.

But Boxberger, looking for his 14th save, and the D-Backs, 29-0 when leading after the eighth inning, came up one out short, because of Hanson.

Through translator Edwin Higueros, Hanson explained his success that has led to six doubles, five home runs and 18 RBI in his first 19 games as a Giant.

“Last year I basically spent the whole year pinch-hitting,” Hanson explained. “I don’t let the situation intimidate me.”

Convinced he would see at least one pitch to drive from Boxberger, Hanson did on the 0-1 pitch that grabbed too much of the plate, and was sent over the right field bricks.

“He killed us this series,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said of Hanson, who had a hit in all three games of the series, despite not starting any of the three.

In the tenth, the table was set when center fielder Jarrod Dyson couldn’t snag Andrew McCutchen’s drive that eluded his glove at the base of the center field wall. Dyson later admitted he saw it initially, but lost in the sun.

That was the only moment the Diamondbacks wished they had back. In the fifth, they loaded the bases, but Will Smith struck out Alex Avila to end the inning. In the sixth, Goldschmidt was thrown out at the plate, the victim of Pablo Sandoval’s perfect throw from first base. And in the tenth, David Peralta’s deep drive danced around the foul pole. Later in that inning, Ketel Marte and Nick Ahmed couldn’t give Arizona a lead with two baserunners aboard.

The Giants’ bullpen–with Reyes Moronta, Tony Watson, Ty Blach (two innings) and Hunter Strickland following Smith–held up, or escaped, depending on your point of view.

The Giants open a 10-game road trip in Washington D.C. on Friday night. Andrew Suarez will be opposed by the Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg in that one.