Hobbled Michael Conforto gives SF Giants desperately needed win vs. Marlins

MIAMI — Losers of five straight, held without a hit since the fourth inning, facing a long flight home after, the Giants needed this one.

Nobody understood that better than Michael Conforto, who has frustratingly been forced to watch most of this disastrous road trip from the bench, limited to pinch-hitting duties only as he recovers from calf tightness. A hobbled Conforto delivered perhaps his biggest hit since signing with the Giants, slugging a tie-breaking two-run home run to center field in the 11th inning Wednesday, paving the way to a desperately needed 5-2 win over the Marlins.

Mike Yastrzemski followed a few batters later with another two-run shot, his second in as many games, which proved to be critical insurance runs as Miami rallied for a run and loaded the bases against Sean Hjelle and Taylor Rogers in the bottom of the 11th, eventually getting MLB batting leader Luis Arraez to ground out softly for the final out.

The win, their first of this five-game road trip, snapping a five-game losings streak, should make the six-hour charter flight home somewhat more pleasant.

Players of the game

Camilo Doval (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K): Pitched the Giants out of two late-inning jams, including a fly out from Jazz Chisholm Jr. with the winning run on second in the ninth inning and recording back-to-back strikeouts of Bryan De La Cruz and Avisail Garcia with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th.

Alex Cobb (5 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K): Struck out six of Marlins’ nine batters his first time through the order. Pitched around three two-out hits in the third and fourth but ran into trouble in the fifth, requiring 27 pitches to escape a bases-loaded jam with only one run of damage. Cobb lowered his ERA to 2.79, while his 22:3 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks fourth in the National League, trailing only Julio Urías and two teammates (Logan Webb, Anthony DeSclafani).

J.D. Davis (1-for-4): Cobb doesn’t make it out of the fifth in a tied ballgame without Davis’ slick snag on Bryan De La Cruz’s 104-mph liner for the third out of the inning. After a pair of singles, Cobb issued his lone walk to Jorge Soler to load the bases with two outs, and Davis’ defense prevented extra bases and at least two runs. In addition to hitting safely for the fourth time in five games, Davis continued to burnish a surprising early case for a Gold Glove, a goal of his that doesn’t seem so unrealistic now.

Darin Ruf (1-for-2, 2B, RBI): Drove in the Giants’ only run until extras in the fourth inning with a 394-foot double off the wall in left-center, which would have been a home run at Oracle Park and in seven of the other 30 parks around the league. In six games since returning to San Francisco, Ruf has one fewer extra-base hit (two) than he did in 28 games last season after being traded to the Mets (three).

Number(s) to know

4: Wilmer Flores lined a single to center to lead off the Giants’ scoring rally in the fourth, extending his hitting streak to a team-high four games.

0-for-22: The Giants were held hitless for 22 straight at-bats from the fourth through the first out of the 11th inning, a streak snapped by Conforto’s home run.

Quotable

“Somehow, some way he looked bright-eyed and ready to roll, which I found pretty impressive given the redeye flight.” — manager Gabe Kapler on Tristan Beck, who was called up to take Alex Wood’s roster spot, arriving in Miami at about 6:30 a.m., and was prepared to make his MLB debut.

“Wide awake. Cup of coffee and I’m good.” — Beck, who was the last remaining pitcher in the Giants’ bullpen but didn’t get into the game and will now make the six-hour flight back with the team.

Up next

The Giants fly home to San Francisco, where they begin an eight-game home stand on Thursday. Hosting the Mets (11-7), then the Cardinals (7-11), the home stand begins a stretch of 13 straight games against playoff teams from 2022. It will be LHP Sean Manaea (0-0, 4.76) vs. RHP Kodai Senga (2-0, 3.38) on Thursday, RHP Anthony DeSclafani (1-0, 1.42) vs. TBA on Friday and RHP Logan Webb (0-4, 4.94) vs. LHP David Peterson (1-2, 6.10) on Saturday. Alex Wood’s rotation spot comes around Sunday in the series finale, and it will likely be RHP Ross Stripling (0-1, 7.30) vs. RHP Tylor Megill (3-0, 2.25) but the Giants are listing their starter as TBA.