Toronto Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt was dealing agianst the San Francisco Giants. Bassitt went six innings, three hits and 12 strikeouts at Rogers Centre in Toronto on Thu Jun 29, 2023 (@ESPNStatsInfo photo)

Giants Ninth Inning Rally Falls Short Against Toronto Losing 2-1

By Barbara Mason

Thursday evening the San Francisco Giants (45-36) finished off their three game series against the Toronto Blue Jays (45-37) and were defeated by the Blue Jays 2-1.

The winner the Blue Jays came out on top in this three game series winning it two games to one.

Going into the sixth inning neither team was able to put up much offense. In the bottom of the inning everything would change for the Blue Jays. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. would knock a Keaton Winn pitch out of the yard with Brandon Belt on base and Toronto took a 2-0 lead.

This game would go into the ninth inning with San Francisco’s last chance to rally. Patrick Bailey doubled and Blake Sabol singled him home, the score now 2-1. With two outs the Giants were down to their final strike with Brandon Crawford at the plate. The Giants rally in the ninth inning came up one run short.

San Francisco had five hits in this game but it was the Guerrero two run home run that made the difference in this game. This was a bit of a pitching duel between Keaton Winn and Chris Bassitt. Bassitt had been struggling but he came to play in this game giving up only three hits with 12 punch outs in an outstanding start through six innings. Winn allowed three hits giving up two runs and only three strikeouts. This was his first start.

Post game notes: The Giants took game one 3-0 and Toronto was the victor in game two with a 6-1 win to tie up the series. Thairo Estrada was a huge factor for the Giants in the game one win with two RBI’s handing San Francisco their 13th win in their last 15 games.

In Game Two the Blue Jays George Springer set the tone with the first of four Toronto doubles putting the stops on the Giants ten game road winning streak. Springer’s double came in the first inning and going into the second inning the Blue Jays had a 5-0 lead. The Jays came away a 6-1 winner on Wednesday night.

The Giants now travel to New York to take on the Mets who are having terrible struggles. They have only won three of their last 12 games and have fallen into fourth place in the NL East with a record of 36-44. They are 17 games out of first place. Alex Cobb will take the mound for San Francisco. He has a 5-2 win/ loss record and a 3.09 ERA. Carlos Carrasco will get the nod for the Mets with a 2/3 win/loss record and a 6.19 ERA. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 PM.