Martinez Tribune The website of the Martinez Tribune.
BY HELEN LAME’
Mike Yastrzemski stroked a 10th inning splash hit to lead the Giants to an improbable 8–6 come from behind win over the Cincinnati Reds Wednesday afternoon at Oracle Park.
Mike Yastrzemski (far right) gets the celebratory treatment from teammates following his tenth inning walk off home run during the Giants 8-6 win over the Cincinnati Reds Wednesday at Oracle Park.
Cincinnati jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third inning on the strength of five straight hits against a shaky Justin Verlander, but the Giants refused to roll over, salvaging the final game of the three game series and winning for the ninth time in 12 games this season.
A two run double by Elly De La Cruz staked the Reds to a 3-0 lead before Gavin Lux ripped the next pitch from Verlander into right center to drive in two more and give Cincinnati a five run cushion.
The Giants got to Reds starter Nick Martinez for a single run in the fourth, highlighted by an RBI triple from Jung Ho Lee, before Cincinnati pieced together a run in the sixth to go back up by five.
San Francisco finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth, scoring three of their four runs off Martinez to cut their deficit to a single run. A Lee single followed by a Yastrzemski double and a pair of wild pitches would plate the Giants second run before a Wilmer Flores single cut the gap to 6-3. With Taylor Rogers coming in to relieve Martinez, a Patrick Bailey triple brought in Flores before Tyler Fitzgerald singled to score Bailey, narrowing the score to 6-5.
Mike Yastrzemski watches the path of his game winning tenth inning home run that gave the Giants a 8-6 win over the Cincinnati Reds Wednesday afternoon.
With Lou Trivino, Randy Rodriguez, Tyler Rogers, Ryan Walker and Erik Miller shutting down the Reds bats over the last 4 1/3 innings of the game, San Francisco completed their comeback in the eighth, with a solo home run by Flores tying the game, setting the stage for Yastrzemski’s extra innings heroics against Reds reliever Emilio Pagan.
After the game, the Giants departed for a ten game road trip, tied for the longest of their season. Robbie Ray (2-0, 3.18) is scheduled to face off against the Yankees Marcus Stroman (0-0, 7.27) in the opener Friday night in the Bronx in the first of a three game series before San Francisco moves on to Philadelphia for four before returning to the West Coast for three games against the Angels in Anaheim next weekend.
GAME NOTES:
Lee finished with three hits on the day including a double and triple, raising his average to .333 for the young season, while Yastrzemski’s double and homer lifted his average to .344.
Verlander lasted 5 2/3 innings in his longest outing since joining the Giants. His ERA jumped to 6.92, but he settled down enough after the third to show flashes of his old self, striking out nine Cincinnati batters.
Yastrzemski now has more walk off home runs then his Hall of Fame grandfather Carl Yastrzemski.
The Yankee series will mark a stretch of 17 consecutive games without a day off for the Giants.
