SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — LaMonte Wade Jr. blooped a single in front of sliding center fielder Myles Straw in the 10th inning to drive in Blake Sabol with the winning run as the San Francisco Giants rallied past the Cleveland Guardians 5-4 on Monday night.
The comeback victory kept the Giants just 1½ games behind Arizona for the third NL wild card. San Francisco has won four straight following a six-game slide.
Cleveland dropped its third in a row and remained 7 1/2 games back of first-place Minnesota in the AL Central.
After the Guardians went ahead in the top of the 10th, San Francisco answered with two runs and won in its final at-bat for the sixth time this season.
Sabol, who entered as a pinch-hitter in the seventh, singled off All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase (2-9) to drive in Joc Pederson with the tying run.
After Sabol stole second, Wade lofted a fly ball to short center that fell just in front of Straw as Pederson rounded third. When he scored, the crowd of 20,705 — the third-smallest at Oracle Park this season — broke into a roar and Giants players rushed onto the infield to celebrate.
Wade had two hits. Mike Yastrzemski also had two for San Francisco, including his 14th home run.
The Guardians blew leads of 2-0 and 3-2 before going ahead 4-3 in the 10th on Andrés Giménez's RBI single.
Tyler Freeman, who entered as a pinch-runner in the eighth, reached on a fielder’s choice when Giants pitcher Luke Jackson (2-2) fielded a comebacker and threw to third base to get Josh Naylor, who began the inning at second.
Naylor hit his ninth home run and had two RBIs for Cleveland in the Guardians’ first appearance at Oracle Park since 2017. Naylor and his brother, Bo, each had two hits.
Both teams wasted scoring opportunities late.
Cleveland fell short in the eighth following a throwing error by Giants reliever Tyler Rogers that put runners on first and third. After Giménez stole second, Rogers fielded a short comebacker from Will Brennan and caught Tyler Freeman in a 1-5-2 rundown.
The Guardians had runners on second and third with two outs in the ninth before closer Camilo Doval got Josh Naylor to ground out. The Giants left the bases loaded during a wacky seventh inning and stranded two in the eighth. San Francisco used three pinch-hitters in the seventh and had a runner thrown out at the plate on an infield grounder.
Naylor doubled in his first at-bat, then turned on a 2-1 splitter from starter Alex Cobb in the third and crushed it over the right-field wall into McCovey Cove.
Pederson singled home a run in the bottom of the third and another run scored on J.D. Davis’ groundout, putting the Giants ahead 3-2.
The Guardians tied it in the seventh on Steven Kwan’s two-out RBI single.
STARTING OFF
Cobb made his first start at home since his bid for a no-hitter was broken up with two outs in the ninth inning at Oracle Park on Aug. 29. He allowed three hits and two unearned runs in five innings.
Cobb had a cortisone shot between starts and had his outing pushed back a day because of it, but the first-time All-Star was in noticeable discomfort facing his first batter against Cleveland, reaching around to massage his right hip at various points. After Cobb threw his ninth pitch, manager Gabe Kapler and athletic trainer Dave Ghroeschner came out to check on the pitcher.
The three met briefly and Cobb remained in the game.
The game was the 82nd started by a rookie for Cleveland this season, the most by any team in the majors.
Gavin Williams threw six uneven innings and helped the Guardians establish a franchise record with 542 1/3 innings pitched this year by rookies.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Giants: RHP Ross Stripling threw 50 pitches during a live bullpen session before the game. One of San Francisco’s top free-agent acquisitions in the offseason, Stripling has been on the injured list because of a lower back strain since May 19. …. Kapler said it’s possible C Patrick Bailey (concussion) will be activated off the IL by Wednesday.
UP NEXT
Giants LHP Sean Manaea (5-5, 5.00 ERA) returns to the rotation after pitching out of the bullpen for a while. Manaea is unbeaten in five career games against Cleveland. Guardians RHP Cal Quantrill (2-6, 5.70), who sat out a month earlier this season due to inflammation in his pitching shoulder, will be going for his first win since May 7.
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