Estrada walkoff homer carries Giants to sweep of last-place Pirates

After surging to six wins in their last eight games, the San Francisco Giants continued down a road toward winning baseball Sunday afternoon, sweeping the Pittsburgh Pirates with an 8-7 comeback victory at Oracle Park.

San Francisco recorded their first three-game sweep of the Pirates since June 30-July 2, 2017 in Pittsburgh, notable considering the .454 winning percentage and 470 losses the Pirates have suffered through since.

After a bullpen blow-up and a series of strange defensive moments, Thairo Estrada was the hero with a walk-off two-run homer in the ninth off Pirates closer Wil Crowe.

On the walk-off tater, Estrada said: 

“It was my first walk off and I enjoyed every minute of it. I mean, as soon as I made contact, I knew it was gone. …  We go inning by inning, we have a lot of talent in the game and we’re not giving up. We just go ahead and support each other and just wait for the outcome and the outcome was good today.” 

This story will be updated with quotes and post-game material from the Giants clubhouse at Oracle Park.

Giants manager Gabe Kapler agreed, power has been something the Giants have seen a lot from Estrada.

“It’s rare that he gets to be kind of the star of the game –– although he’s deserving –– often but he just kind of blends right in as a winning player. And in that situation, it’s interesting. You know, you don’t expect a home run, but you probably should. Now, he does. He does hit homers in big spots. Not that that’s the expectation, but it shouldn’t surprise us anymore because he’s come up and big spots and put the balls in the seats. So it’s kind of cool to see that that happened for him today.”

The big swing of the bat made the Giants forget all about their bullpen woes a few innings prior. 

San Francisco has pointed to John Brebbia for key spots out of the bullpen for the entire season, and his 55 appearances back him up as the Giants’ best right-handed relief option in non-save situations.

Entering in the seventh, Brebbia walked Pittsburgh catcher Jason Delay and allowed a single to second baseman Kevin Newman, setting up a three-run homer for center fielder Bryan Reynolds. In an attempt to go upstairs with a fastball, Brebbia didn’t get it up far enough and Reynolds destroyed it 442 feet away to straight-away center, clearing the Pirates bullpen. It was tracked as the longest hit ball at Oracle Park all season. 

The go-ahead blast made it 6-5 and instigated yet another Giants bullpen blow-up. Since July 1, the San Francisco bullpen has been the worst in the National League at preventing damage, a 4.34 FIP entering play on Sunday. 

The homer capped an ultimate revenge game for Reynolds, the former Giants first-round draft pick. He finished the day 3-for-4 with five runs batted in, including a two-run double in the fifth. 

The Giants answered in the home half of the seventh when Brandon Crawford popped up the first offering he saw from left-handed reliever Eric Stout. There were runners on first and third with two outs, so the runners were off on the crack of the bat. Shortstop Oneil Cruz and Newman raced to shallow center to make a play, but neither could come up with it cleanly and Wilmer Flores, the lead runner, scored to tie the game.

The play was originally ruled an error on Newman, but the official scorer had a change of heart and awarded Crawford a uniquely generous double.

Camilo Doval entered to pitch his third straight ninth inning and was caught in the middle of Reynolds’ hot streak, as the Pirates center fielder notched a leadoff single against the Giants flame-throwing closer. After walking Gamel with one out, Rodolfo Castro tapped a slow roller to third. Evan Longoria, playing back, charged the ball and unloaded an off-balance throw that sailed over the head of everyone in the vicinity. Reynolds scored again, making it a 7-6 lead.

The slight shift in momentum didn’t stop many of San Francisco’s struggling position players from brewing up offense, as they’ve done the last few games.

It’s been a tough task for LaMonte Wade Jr. to follow up a breakout 2021 campaign, with injuries and inconsistencies taking center stage. It appears he’s starting to flip the script. Entering into Sunday’s matchup, Wade was 5-for-13 with all five hits going for extra bases. 

For the second game in a row against the Pirates, Wade Jr. tortured a baseball, lacing it into the seats. With runners at the corners and only one out, San Francisco’s right fielder blasted one 103.6 mph off the bat to straight-away center. It had the right sound and snuck over the center field wall with ease for a three-run shot to make it 4-0.

On Wade Jr’s hot streak, Kapler said:

First, I think when LaMonte is the confident version of himself, he’s got as much swag as anybody on our team and that translates to good swings in the batter’s box –– and really high-quality decisions and a really thoughtful player. And I think that’s what we have in him right now.

It wasn’t a bad pitch from Pirates starter Zach Thompson, either. In fact, it was a changeup right at the knees, a pitch that is usually swung through or rolled over to an infielder on the pull side. Elevation? Unfathomable, but Wade’s jack brought the afternoon crowd on their feet.

Wade’s long ball was preceded by a big run-scoring hit off the bat of designated hitter Tommy La Stella, another position player the Giants have seen take better at-bats as of late. Like Wade Jr., La Stella’s last nine games have been stellar at the plate, going 8-for-21. 

After Crawford walked, La Stella ripped a ball that rolled to the right field wall for a double. Crawford, the victim of nagging lower body injuries this season, chugged all the way around third when he saw the “go” from third base coach Mark Hallberg. It was a gutsy send, but the relay throw grazed past the play at the plate and Crawford slid home safely to get the scoring started. 

The Giants tagged Wilson for seven hits and five earned runs through four innings, the fifth run coming in the fourth when Joc Pederson was drilled by a pitch and later came around to score when Flores cranked an RBI double past the outstretched dive of Pittsburgh third baseman Rodolfo Castro and down the left field line.

Alex Wood started for San Francisco and the left-hander entered Sunday’s game with a lot of confidence on the mound. Since July, Wood has been one of the National League’s most consistent left-handed pitchers. 

Wood battled through traffic multiple times. He recorded two quick outs in the first, but then yielded an infield single to Tucupita Marcano that squirted past the mound. Wood loaded the bases, serving a single to Delay and drilling Newman with a pitch.

Just when trouble filled the building, Wood avoided further damage and refused to allow a run when he induced an inning-ending fly out to Reynolds. He didn’t allow a run until the fifth when Delay singled and Newman walked to start the inning, leading to Reynolds’ two-run two-bagger.

Wood tends to suffer facing a lineup a third time through the order. The first time Wood faces a lineup, opponents have a .624 OPS against him. It rises to .635 the second time through, then balloons to .921 the third time, with batters posting a .338 average.

On his start, Wood said:

“I felt fine. I thought my stuff was good. I thought overall from the pitching side, we let their best hitter (Reynolds) have a good day. That’s the things that you don’t want to do. Reynolds is a good player, he put two good swings on the ball. … I guess you got to kind of tip your cap.”

Wood’s outing featured plenty of strikeouts too, as he recorded nine of them across six innings of work. He threw 101 pitches and 54 sliders, with his top out-pitch generating 25 swings, more than half of them misses. 

“You come in and you play a young Pirates team and we expect to sweep them –– that’s just the way it is. We got an older group. We got guys that have been here, know how to win. … Hopefully we’ll have some momentum carrying into this week and down the stretch.”

Pederson left the game after being hit by a pitch on the right hand in the fourth inning. The Giants are saying it’s a contusion. After the game, Pederson said his x-rays came back negative but he’ll probably sit anyway against a left-hander on Monday.

Up Next

The Giants will host the Arizona Diamondbacks for a four-game series starting on Monday. Alex Cobb (3-6, 4.15 ERA) is the scheduled starter for San Francisco. Arizona has not yet announced their pitching rotation for the series, but it’s expected to be former Giants World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner.

Steven Rissotto

Steven Rissotto has covered the San Francisco Giants for SFBay since 2021. He is the host of RizzoCast, a baseball interview show featuring players, coaches, media and fans. He attends San Francisco State University and will major in Journalism and minor in education.