Mark Canha(16) of the San Francisco Giants gets the waterworks after hitting a walk off sac fly to score Michael Conforto for the gamer against his old teammates the Detroit Tigers at Oracle Park in San Francisco in the bottom of the ninth on Fri Aug 9, 2024 (AP News photo)

Friday, Aug. 9, 2024

Oracle Park

San Francisco, California

Detroit Tigers 2 (55-62)

San Francisco Giants 3 (60-58)

Win: Tyler Rogers (2-4)

Loss: Jason Foley (3-4)

Time: 2:28

Attendance: 33,037

By Stephen Ruderman

The Giants returned home after an insane day and incredible win in Washington, D.C. Thursday to beat the Detroit Tigers Friday night thanks to three sacrifice flies, including a walk-off sacrifice fly by Mark Canha, 3-2. 

The Giants won one helluva 10-inning game played under the gun, as everyone was trying to get out of Washington, D.C. before Tropical Storm Debby hit. The Giants were able to get out of town, and returned to the cold and foggy confines of San Francisco.

It has always felt great for players to get back to San Francisco after a trip to the hot and humid conditions of the Midwest and East Coast during the Dog Days of Summer. However, considering everything that went down Thursday, there’s a very good chance that the Giants got in very late, and thus, they would have some jetlag Friday night.

Friday night, the Giants would kick off a seven-game homestand with a 2012 World Series rematch against the Detroit Tigers on this cold and foggy night at Oracle Park. Left-hander Robbie Ray took the mound for his fourth start of the season, and he pitched a scoreless top of the first inning to open things up.

Giu Urshela led off the top of the second with a double to left field. Urshela got to third on a wild pitch, and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Ryan Vilade to put the Tigers on the board.

The Tigers went with the bullpen game Friday night, and Beau Brieske was the opener. Brieske was solid over three no-hit innings against a tired and jet-lagged Giants’ offense, as he struck out five. 

Ray pitched a scoreless top of the third, and he pitched his first 1-2-3 inning of the night in the top of the fourth. Former Dodger Kenta Maeda came in, and he threw three perfect innings from the fourth through the six.

Javier Baez doubled to lead off the top of the fifth, and then he stole third and scored on an error to make it 2-0. Ray escaped further damage in the top of the fifth, and he was able to get out of a jam in the top of the sixth unscathed.

Ray was a bit shaky Friday night, as he only pitched one 1-2-3 inning, but he still gave the Giants a solid quality outing. Ray gave up two runs and five hits over six innings, while walking five and striking out seven.

The Giants were getting no-hit as the game went to the bottom of the seventh, but that ended when Tyler Fitzgerald lined a base-hit to left-center field off Maeda to start the inning. Heliot Ramos then singled Fitzgerald over to third, and the Giants had runners at the corners with nobody out.

Michael Conforto came to the plate, and he got the Giants on the board with a sacrifice fly to left. Maeda retired the next two, and the game went to the eighth with Detroit still up 2-1.

Landen Roupp, who was called up prior to the game, pitched 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth, and Maeda returned to the mound for the Tigers in the bottom of the eighth.

Mark Canha lined a base-hit the other way to right to start the bottom of the eighth, and he got to third on a base-hit by Brett Wisely. Patrick Bailey then tied the game with a sacrifice fly to center.

Submariner Tyler Rogers came in for the Giants in the top of the ninth, and he threw a 1-2-3 inning. That sent the game to the bottom of the ninth still tied, and the Giants had a chance to win it.

Jason Foley, who came in for Maeda to finish the bottom of the eighth, was back out for the bottom of the ninth for Detroit. Heliot Ramos was the first up, and hit a ground ball up the middle just to the right of second base to second-baseman Colt Keith. However, Keith kicked it, and Ramos was aboard to start the inning.

Michael Conforto walked, and Matt Chapman was hit in the head to load the bases. Thankfully, Chapman was wearing a helmet, and he stayed in the game after he was checked on.

Tigers Manager A.J. Hinch brought in the veteran and former Giant, Shelby Miller. Mike Yastrzemski hit a ground ball to first, and Ramos was out at the plate on a 3-2 fielder’s choice.

The bases remained loaded for Mark Canha, who grew up a Giants fan, and who was playing in his first home game as a Giant in the park he came to as a kid. With the count 2-2, Canha flew out to just shy of the warning track out in left, and Conforto came in to score the winning run for a magical moment that Canha would never forget.

Tyler Rogers was the winning pitcher, and Jason Foley was the loser.

Not a single run scored Friday night on a base-hit, and four of the five runs scored in this game came on sacrifice flies.

It was another big win for the Giants, who have now won 11 of their last 14 games to tie their season-high two games over .500 at 60-58. They are now just two games back of the Mets, who were shut out 6-0 in Seattle Friday night, for the third wild card spot in the National League.

The Giants will try to get to three games over .500 for the first time this season Saturday afternoon. Logan Webb (9-8, 3.42 ERA) will be on the mound for San Francisco, and the Tigers will go with another bullpen game with their opener still to be determined. First pitch will be at 1:05 p.m.

National League Wild Card Standings:

1. Padres 65-52 +3.5

2. Diamondbacks 64-53 +2.5

3. Mets 61-55 —

Braves 60-55 0.5

Cardinals 60-57 1.5

GIANTS 50-58 2.0

Cubs 58-60 4.0

Pirates 56-59 4.5

Reds 56-60 5.0

Giants News and Notes:

• Closer Camilo Doval was sent down to Triple-A Sacramento following his blown save in Washington yesterday. Doval had been one of the best closers in Baseball over the last two years, and he went to the All-Star Game last year in Seattle.

Doval got off to a great start this season, but after a blown save in which he gave up two earned runs on May 21 in Pittsburgh, things went downhill for him. He gave up four runs in a blown save against the Yankees on June 2, and continued to struggle over the next two-plus months afterwards.

• Bob Melvin announced prior to the game that Ryan Walker will be the interim closer while Doval gets things together in Sacramento. Walker is 7-3 with a 2.24 ERA this season, and he has shined in some big situations, which has earned him the trust from his skipper to be the closer as the Giants continue to battle through this pennant race.

• Catcher Jakson Reetz was also optioned to Sacramento. Right-handed reliever Landen Roupp was called back up, and catcher Curt Casali was activated off the Paternity List following the birth of his son, Cole.

• According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Giants are open to a long-term deal with Matt Chapman. Chapman, who was signed in Spring Training this season, has been great at the hot corner, as well as in the clubhouse. While Chapman was signed to a three-year deal, he does have an opt-out after next season.

• As the Giants and Tigers square off in this 2012 World Series rematch, the Giants will have their 2014 world champion reunion prior to Saturday’s game. In attendance will be a variety of players, coaches, trainers and front office members from the team that won the Giants’ third world championship in five years.

Former players in attendance will be Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Brandon Belt, Hunter Pence, Joe Panik, Tim Hudson, Michael Morse, Jeremy Affeldt, Gregor Blanco, Travis Ishikawa, George Kontos, Javier Lopez, Jake Peavy, Ryan Vogelsong, Yusmeiro Petit, Juan Perez, Sergio Romo, Andrew Susac, Jean Machi, Ehire Adrianza, Gary Brown, Juan Gutierrez, Chris Heston and Brandon Hicks.

Former coaches in attendance will be Ron Wotus, Dave Righetti, Tim Flannery, Mark Gardner, Shawon Dunston. Taira Uematsu, who is still on the Giants’ coaching staff, will also take part in the ceremony.

Final Thoughts:

For the third time this season, I gave up on this team, and for the third time, they have come right back to prove me wrong. 

I said at the start of the season that the Giants would get off to a slow and frustrating start over the first two-to-four months of the season and then get it together, but after their brutal 2-5 road trip to start the second half, the Giants were six games under .500 at 49-55 and five and a half games back of the Padres for the third wild card spot.

I just felt that there was no way. The frustrations amongst the players over how Farhan Zaidi was running things were clearly mounting for the third-straight year, and this team seemed poised to collapse just as they did the last two years.

However, something feels different this time, and I really think it’s the manager. Gabe Kapler may have been the most laissez-faire manager in the history of the game. This is the guy who told his players that his preferred way of communication was texting, even if his players were in the same room with him. With the frustrations with Farhan mounting, and a manager that players felt they could not really talk to, the last two years ended in utter disaster, and by the end of last season, Kapler had completely lost the clubhouse.

I don’t know for a fact that Bob Melvin has made the difference this season, but I highly suspect he has. With this team on the verge of collapsing in the second half for the third year in a row, Melvin has been a stabilizing force that has held this team together, and they have turned things around to win 11 of their last 14.

I trashed Farhan for his moves at the Trade Deadline on July 30. He didn’t trade Blake Snell for prospects, and the best he got offensively was Mark Canha. Then on Aug. 2, Snell threw his no-hitter in Cincinnati. Thursday, Canha went 4-for-5 to lead the Giants to their biggest win of the season, and he walked off Friday night with a sacrifice fly.

Farhan knows the Giants most likely have to go to the Playoffs for him to keep his job, and so far his moves have paid off. The Giants are now back at their season-high two games over .500 at 60-58, and they trail the Mets by just two games for the third wild card.

I definitely feel a lot more excited right now, but this team is very streaky, and they have a long 44 games still in front of them. Right now, the Giants are benefiting from having the easiest schedule in Baseball, but the real test of this team is going to come when the schedule gets much more difficult when they go to Seattle on Aug. 23.

When the Giants start their three-game series in Seattle against the Mariners on Aug. 23, they will suddenly have one of the hardest schedules in Baseball the rest of the way with 30 of their final 33 games coming against teams over .500. 

I really do believe in this team’s ability to go to the Playoffs, and the Giants have shown that they can beat the elite teams in Baseball this season, but they really need to continue to take advantage of the easy schedule in front of them over the next 13 days and get a lot of momentum going into what is going to be a very difficult final 33 games.

As of right now, I just don’t know if the Giants are going to go to the Playoffs. This is baseball, and anything can happen, but the one thing I do know is that the offense is going to have to collectively stay hot and keep getting the big RBI hits with runners in scoring position if they want to go to the Playoffs. 

The Giants’ rotation has been solid all season, and with the real Blake Snell finally showing up and Robbie Ray back, the rotation is the best it’s been all season. However, Camilo Doval’s struggles have dampened what has otherwise been a pretty good bullpen. If Doval can get it together in Sacramento and return to his old self, the Giants could suddenly have one of the best seventh-eighth-and-ninth-inning trios in all of Baseball. Ryan Walker in the seventh; Tyler Rogers in the eighth; and the Camilo Doval we know in the ninth will be absolutely lethal

The Giants are a young good team with some growing pains, and they have an offense that is capable of staying hot the rest of the way. All the moves have been made, and this clubhouse has remained strong following the moves at the deadline. They are gelling together and showing what they are capable of.

All we can do at this point is sit back and see what this team does over their final 44 games, but if the offense stays consistent, and if Doval can come back and be his old self, this team will stand a good chance of getting into October Baseball.