SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Brett Wisely hit a tying RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning and Tyler Fitzgerald scored the winning run moments later on a wild pitch by Trevor Richards, rallying the San Francisco Giants past the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Richards (1-1) allowed Patrick Bailey’s single and walked Fitzgerald to put the tying and go-ahead runs aboard in the ninth before Wisely’s single got through between first and second.
Fitzgerald found himself wanting Richards to “please throw a dirt ball.”
“Anything in the dirt I was going to try,” said Fitzgerald, who is getting a chance at shortstop. “I guess I spoke it into existence.”
Manager Bob Melvin praised his players for sticking with it through some tough at-bats in the ninth.
“You don’t get too many walkoffs in that fashion, but it was a relentlessness in the last inning,” he said.
Yusei Kikuchi struck out a career-high 13 pitching into the eighth inning and Ernie Clement’s three-run homer in the seventh put the Blue Jays in good position — denying Blake Snell a chance at his first victory of the year.
Clement connected off Ryan Walker, who allowed a one-out walk to Danny Jansen and pinch-hitter Spencer Horwitz’s double before Clement’s drive.
Snell, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner who signed a $62 million, two-year contract in March, came off the injured list from a left groin strain that sidelined him since June 3 and dueled with fellow lefty Kikuchi.
Kikuchi’s winless stretch reached five starts during which he is 0-3 since a victory at Milwaukee on June 11. He struck out the side in order in the second and had six Ks over his initial three innings before Heliot Ramos — the Giants’ first homegrown All-Star since Chili Davis in 1986 — homered leading off the fourth to put San Francisco ahead.
Kikuchi topped his 12 strikeouts on July 23, 2021, against Oakland and this was his first with double-digit Ks since.
Fitzgerald connected to start the bottom of the eighth for San Francisco.
While he’s still 0-3, Snell is encouraged with his progress. He allowed only a second-inning single to Davis Schneider, struck out three and walked three over a season-high five innings.
“Just find a rhythm, trust my stuff, trust my body, better, just more confidence knowing that I’m able to repeat is significant,” Snell said.
The Blue Jays are visiting this side of San Francisco Bay to play the Giants for the first time since splitting a two-game set May 14-15, 2019.
Toronto took two of three at home from the Giants in June 2023, surrendering just five runs.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Blue Jays: 3B Isiah Kiner-Falefa has begun testing his sprained left knee with some baseball activity and did some light running and throwing. ... RHP Yimi García (nerve inflammation in pitching elbow) experienced a stiff neck and had his rehab outing with Triple-A Buffalo pushed back a day to Wednesday.
Giants: INFs Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores also were activated from the IL. Estrada — who led off as designated hitter — missed nine games with a sprained left wrist, while Flores also sat out nine contests because of tendinitis in his right knee. ... INF Nick Ahmed was designated for assignment to clear roster room.
UP NEXT
Former Oakland RHP Chris Bassitt (7-7, 3.43 ERA) pitches back in the Bay Area for the Blue Jays opposite Giants All-Star RHP Logan Webb (7-6, 3.09).
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
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