– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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SAN FRANCISCO — Once the San Francisco Giants experienced the rare sight of a ninth-inning lead slip from their grasp, they went about quickly making amends to salvage a victory they had all but in the bag. J.D. Davis made sure the restoration was as quick as possible.
One-pitch quick to be exact.
Davis launched the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth inning off the left-field foul pole, lifting the Giants to a 3-2 walk-off victory over the Boston Red Sox inside Oracle Park early Saturday evening. The Giants appeared headed to victory after their pitching staff threw eight scoreless innings, but All-Star closer Camilo Doval blew just his third save of the season when he allowed a two-run single to Justin Turner in the top of the ninth.
That set the stage for Davis, who was taking on another All-Star closer, Boston’s Kenley Jansen, to begin the bottom of the frame. Jansen, who closed many games out against the Giants as a longtime member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, was jumped on by Davis, who did not wait for the big closer to find his groove and sent a towering fly ball to left field that smacked the foul pole. Davis, like former Red Sox legend Carlton Fisk during Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, stood at the plate while watching the flight of the ball to see if it would stay fair before heading down the first-base line to enjoy his heroics.
“It was a rollercoaster,” said Davis, who recorded his second-ever walk-off hit. “We didn’t expect [Doval] to give up two runs. And then on top of that, to have Kenley come in, one of the best closers to ever play in this game. Just to get that opportunity, get a pitch to hit and come through for the boys, and get a win to even the series was huge.”
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday evening’s games, with the photos taken by Las Vegas-area photographer Arnie Bazemore. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 11 pictures in total.
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