Pinch hitter Pavin Smith on Monday night connected for a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks over the San Francisco Giants 4-2.
Jake McCarthy got the winning rally started with a looping, one-out double down the left-field line. Smith — hitting for Eugenio Suarez — smashed a pitch from Randy Rodriguez (1-1) that barely cleared the yellow line above the wall in center.
“It’s pretty crazy, the stuff you sort of dream about,” Smith said. “You play it in your mind almost every day.”
Photo: AFP
The Diamondbacks have won three straight, while the Giants have dropped a season-high five in a row.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr gave Arizona a 1-0 lead in the second with a homer off Spencer Howard, which marked the 100th longball of his career. Blaze Alexander’s RBI single up the middle later in the inning scored Suarez — who reached on a triple off the wall in right-center — for a 2-0 advantage.
San Francisco’s Matt Chapman hit a double in the fourth that drove in Brett Wisely, cutting it to 2-1. Heliot Ramos tied it at 2 in the seventh with a solo shot to the deepest part of the park in right-center.
The Giants threatened in the ninth, putting runners on first and third with two outs. Jorge Soler hit a bouncing ball down the third base line to Suarez, who fired high to first, but Christian Walker was able to leap into the air and grab the throw before tagging Soler just before he crossed the base.
“It’s a game of inches, right?” Giants manager Bob Melvin said.
The stellar defensive play by Walker set the stage for Smith, who hit just his second homer of the season and his first career walk-off.
In Arlington, Texas, Jake Rogers homered twice, including a tiebreaking drive in the eighth inning, to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 2-1 victory over the Texas Rangers to get back to .500.
A West Texas native who lives in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Rogers hit a two-out homer in the third against Nathan Eovaldi and a 1-1 cut fastball from Jose Leclerc (3-4) just inside the left-field foul pole with two outs in the eighth.
The 29-year-old Rogers had the third two-homer game of his big league career and doubled his season home run total.
His four career homers at Globe Life Field match his career high at an opposing park, along with Angel Stadium.
“I don’t know if my family would let me back if I didn’t leave Texas [with] a homer,” said Rogers, the Tigers’ No. 9 batter.
His first home run ended a 20-inning scoreless streak by Texas pitching.
Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Phillies outplayed the Milwaukee Brewers 3-1, the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 and the New York Mets pipped the Washington Nationals 8-7.
The Cincinnati Reds blew past the Colorado Rockies 13-3, the Houston Astros downed the St Louis Cardinals 7-4 and the Los Angeles Angels survived the San Diego Padres 2-1.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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