photo from sfgate.com: San Francisco Giants’ Brandon Belt, left, slides to score behind Colorado Rockies’ Chris Iannetta in the 18th inning of a baseball game Friday night, in San Francisco.
By Jeremy Kahn
SAN FRANCISCO-Erik Kratz came up with the biggest hit of the night at 12:50 A.M. for the San Francisco Giants.
Kratz hit into a fielders choice that scored Brandon Belt from third base, as the Giants came back from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Colorado Rockies 3-2 before a crowd of 33,616 at Oracle Park.
Belt led off the inning with a double off of DJ Johnson, then intentionally walked Brandon Crawford, then Kevin Pillar flew out for the first out of the inning and Belt went to third.
Johnson then walked former Rockies outfielder Gerardo Parra to load the bases to get to Kratz, who after falling behind 0-2 to Johnson, hit a ball to Ian Desmond, who was the fifth infielder for the Rockies.
Desmond made a diving stab at the ball, got up and threw the ball to Chris Ianetta at home plate; however, Ianetta was unable to keep his foot on home plate and Belt was called safe by home plate umpire C.B. Bucknor; however, Rockies manager Bud Black challenged the call at the plate and the call was eventually upheld and the Giants escaped with a hard-fought win.
Kratz, who caught the whole game jokingly said that he got his second wind in the 17th inning. This was the first career walk-off for Kratz, who is playing for his ninth team in his 10-year career.
It was the second time in Kratzs career that he caught an 18-inning game, the first time came as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The first time came on July 17, 2016, when the Pirates defeated the Washington Nationals 2-1 in 18 innings at Nationals Park.
Mark Melancon was unable to close out the 1-0 victory, as he gave up a two-out game-tying home run to current Rockies infielder Daniel Murphy; however, Starling Marte hit a home run in the top of the 18th inning to give the Pirates the lead and eventually the win, as Jon Niese won the game for the Pirates.
Travis Bergen pitched the final two innings for the Giants to get his second win of the home stand, and his career.
If Kratz was unable to come through, Bergen was on deck and his last at-bat was a check swing groundout in high school in 2012, according to Bergen.
The Giants bullpen of Reyes Moronta, Sam Dyson, Tony Watson, Will Smith, Mark Melancon, Trevor Gott, Nick Vincent and Bergen combined to go 12 innings, allowing seven hits, walking just two and striking out 19.
The Rockies got on the board in the top of the fourth inning when Garrett Hampson tripled into the right-center field quadrant known as Triples Alley and then scored the Rockies first run of the game when Pomeranz balked in Hampson.
Story got a second chance at the plate, as it looked like Pomeranz was going to escape the inning unscathed, when Belt made a terrific over-the-shoulder catch that would have ended the inning; however, Pomeranz was called for a balk that scored Hampson with the Rockies first run of the series.
Following the balk that scored Hampson, Story then singled and then scored on a Desmond double.
Chad Bettis went five innings, allowing two runs on six hits, walking two and striking out four, as he did not fare in the decision.
Evan Longoria got the Giants on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning, as Steven Duggar led off the inning with a walk, went to third on a Joe Panik single and then scored on an Evan Longoria double play.
Pomeranz went five innings, allowing two runs on just four hits, walking just one and striking out five, as he did not fare in the decision.
The Rockies blew an opportunity to tack on another run in the top of the sixth inning, as Nolan Arenado reached on a throwing error by Longoria, stole second then went to third on the second error of the inning, when Kratzs throw went into centerfield. Reyes Moronta, who came on to replace Pomeranz when the inning began, then struck out Story and then Desmond flew out to Duggar to end the inning.
The Giants tied up the game in the bottom of the sixth inning, as pinch hitter Pablo Sandoval doubled down the left field line, went to third on a Duggar infield hit and then scored the tying run, when Panik hit a sacrifice fly.
NOTES: Pablo Sandoval picked up his fifth pinch-hit of the season in 12 at bats, and his five pinch-hits lead the major leagues.
The 24 strikeouts by the Giants are the most in the San Francisco era, breaking the record of 22 that was set on May 31, 1964, when the Giants defeated the New York Mets 8-6 in 23 innings in the second game of a doubleheader at Shea Stadium.
That doubleheader is the longest doubleheader in major league history, as the two games went a combined nine hours and 52 minutes. The second game went seven hours and 23 minutes, after the first game went a quick two hours and 29 minutes.
This game matched the longest in Oracle Park history, tying the May 29, 2001 1-0 loss to the eventual World Champion Arizona Diamondbacks, when Erubiel Durazo hit a double that scored Steve Finley. The losing pitcher in that game was none other than Ryan Vogelsong.
UP NEXT: Madison Bumgarner will take the mound for the Giants on Saturday afternoon, as he looks for that elusive first win and the Rockies will send Kyle Freeland to the mound.
