San Francisco Giants’ Wilmer Flores (41) hits an RBI single in front of Boston Red Sox catcher Jorge Alfaro during the fifth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Sun Jul 30, 2023 (AP News photo)

Boston (56-49). 000 000 130 00. – 3. 8. 1

San Francisco (58-48) 010 010 010 01 – 4. 11 0

Time: 3:13

Attendance: 37,026

Sunday, July 30, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–After Saturday’s last minute turnaround victory over the Boston Red Sox, the Giants were 57-48, in second place for the NL West lead, three games behind the Dodgers and six games behind the three teams tied in the race for a wild card berth.

That put the exhilaration of the win in some perspective. The Giants kept the excitement up with the same momentum but this time in 11 innings picking up narrow 4-3 win over the Bean Town Dudes at Oracle Park on Sunday.

Similarly, the return to the lineup of Brandon Crawford, high on the list of San Francisco’s all time list of shortstops but clearly showing the effects of his 12 years in the major leagues, was both encouraging and concerning at the same time. Who would you rather have as your shortstop, Crawford or the wunderkind of the week, Marco Luciano, today’s DH?

Whose bat would you prefer to have in your lineup? When today’s game had ended, with the Giants winning a 3-2 11 inning thriller Crawford had gone 2 for 5 and made a pretty backhanded flip to start a double play in the sixth, while Luciano had gone 0 for 2 as a pinch hitter. It’s still an open question.

Both teams went the opener route, San Francisco going with Scott Alexander (6-1, 3.41) and his sinkers, sliders, and change ups. Boston entrusted the task to a southpaw, Bernardo Bernadino (1-0,2.31). Those were their game time numbers. Anthony DeScalfani, whose name had been. bandied about as a possible starter in this series, was placed on the IL yesterday.

Alexander, making his third start of the ’23 season, threw 1-2/3 perfect innings before his scheduled removal and replacement by Ross Stripling, who threw 4-1/3 innings of one run, four hit ball. The Giants also used Taylor and Tyler Rogers, Camilo Duval, and Tristan Beck, the eventful winner, now 2-0, 2.94.

Bernandino held the Giants to a walk in the first but plunked the first two batters he faced in the second, Michael Conforto and Luis Matos. Blake Sabol loaded the bases by beating out a bunt in front of the plate. That was it for Bernadino. Right hander John Schreiber replaced him.

Casey Schmitt drove a hard drive down the third base line that Rafael Devers snared. He slapped his glove on the base to force Matos out as Conforto crossed the plate.

Then Crawford hit a liner to center that Duvall captured and returned the ball to Christian Arroyo at second before Sabol could get back to the bag. As they did yesterday, the Giants missed a chance to blow the game open early and had to settle for a 1-0 lead. They missed another opportunity one inning later.

Mike Yastrzemski pinch hit for Slater and invoked The Curse of the Leadoff Double. He moved to third on Flores’s nubber to the mound and died on third after Luciano and Davis fanned. Yastrzemski left the game in the top of the fifth because of hamstring tightness. Joc Pederson replaced him.

John Schreiber (two innings), Chris Murphy (3-1/3 innings), Josh Winckosxki (1-2/3), Richard Bleier (1), Chris Martin (1), and Mauricio Llovera, who got no one out in the 11th and took the loss, also performed mound duties for the Bosox.

San Francisco managed to tack a run onto their lead in the fifth. Schmitt led off with a single. Devers couldn’t handle Crawford’s grounder to third, putting runners on the corners, After Pederson flew out to center, Flores sent Schmitt home with a single to right.

The Giants might have scored more, but Crawford was put out in a rundown between third and home on Luciano’s grounder to the hot corner. Davis grounded out to end the threat.

The Red Sox drew closer in the top of the seventh with Duvall’s lead off 381 foot homer over the National Car Rental advertisement in left center field. He hit it off a change up on Stripling’s 63rd and final pitch of the game, Taylor Rogers, the left handed brother, relieved him and, in spite of a single and a walk, kept Boston off the board, thanks, in part to an 8-4 double play that the Giants pulled off on a broken bat fly by Tristón Casas.

Boston went ahead in the next frame. The right handed Rogers brother, the submarining Tyler, went to the mound at the start of the visitors’ eighth and gave up a leadoff Texas League double to a pinch hitting Jarren Duran. One out later, the Red Sox went ahead, 3-2.

The much booed Justin Turner sent his 17th round tripper of the season on a line 382 feet into the left field bleachers. The pitch, a slider that came in 73.1 mph left Turner’s bat at 104.7 mph.

The Giants came roaring back in their next at bat. With one down, Conforto beat out a grounder to third, and Matos slammed a double off the top of the Bank of America ad just to the left of the 399 foot marker in left center field. Conforto rounded third but scrambled back to the bag.

The roar was modulated when Patrick Bailey, who had replaced Sabol in the sixth, hit a bouncer to the mound and was tagged out by Winckowski. But Conforto scored, and the game was tied. Schmitt then struck out amidst a chorus of boos from the umpires in the stands.

Camilo Doval came in to pitch the Red Sox ninth and kept the game tied, allowing only a single to Casas.

Richard Bleier replaced Winckowski preserved the tie in the bottom of the ninth, and so we went into extra innings.

Tristan Beck now was on the hill for San Francisco, He blanked the Bosox, in spite of the zombie runner.

Chris Martin faced the Giants in their half of the tenth. He had to face five batters (if you count his two. intentional walks), but he sent us into the eleventh.

And it was in the eleventh, against their recent teammate Mauricio Llovera, that the Giants won it. Bailey, the zombie runner, scored after Schmitt was hit by a pitch, Crawford’s bunt died on the grass between home and third, and Pederson laced a single to right.

With all its frustrations, a most satisfying victory.

There’s been no word yet on who will pitch for either Arizona or the San Francisco Monday, evening at 6:45pm PT when the Giant and Diamondbacks will begin a four game series.