Sabol gets biggest hit of MLB career as SF Giants shock Cardinals

SAN FRANCISCO – Blake Sabol came through with his biggest hit as a San Francisco Giant on Tuesday. It might have even been the greatest moment of his career.

Sabol launched a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Giants a remarkable 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals before an announced crowd of 20,797 at Oracle Park, extending San Francisco’s win streak to four games.

It was the first career walk-off hit of Sabol’s brief big-league career. The catcher was a Rule 5 draft pick of the Cincinnati Reds in December before he was traded to the Giants.

“That was probably one of the best moments of my life,” Sabol said. “As soon as I heard the sound off the bat and felt it, I didn’t even look. I don’t even know where the ball went. I just kind of bat-flipped, started yelling and screaming, and blacked out from that moment on, just jumping up and down with my teammates.

“That was a lot of fun.”

Sabol looked at two sliders for strikes from Ryan Helsley in the ninth inning Tuesday before he crushed a third one 428 feet to center field.

“You’re fighting for your life with two strikes, and for him to get a swing off like that is pretty remarkable,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “Really cool moment. One of the cooler moments I’ve been a part of since I’ve been here.”

“I wasn’t trying to hit a home run there,” Sabol said. “I was just sticking to my approach. I wanted to see some pitches. I wasn’t trying to go up there and swing first pitch. I wanted to see some out of his hand.”

Up until the late innings, the Giants’ bullpen game against the Cardinals was proceeding exceedingly well as five pitchers combined to allow just four hits and one earned run through seven innings.

Everything changed in the eighth inning, though, as the Cardinals broke through with three runs on four hits to take a 4-2 lead.

Right-hander Scott Alexander allowed three hits and was charged with all three of the Cardinals’ runs in the eighth. With the Giants leading 2-1, Alexander gave up singles to Dylan Carlson and Paul DeJong before pinch-hitter Tyler O’Neill doubled to right to drive in Carlson and tie the game.

Camilo Doval replaced Armstrong and promptly gave up a two-RBI single to Paul Goldschmidt as the Cardinals took a 4-2 lead.

In the ninth, Mike Yastrzemski doubled to score Joc Pederson from first base to cut the Cardinals’ lead to one, setting up Sabol’s heroics.

Up until the eighth, John Brebbia, Sean Manaea, Jakob Junis, Taylor, and Tyler Rogers were putting together an effective game, aside from the solo home run Manaea gave up to Tommy Edman in the third inning. Tyler Rogers lasted the longest for San Francisco, as he struck out one and didn’t allow a hit in throwing scoreless sixth and seventh innings.

Yastrzemski extended his hitting streak to three games, as he hit his fifth homer of the season in the fourth inning to give San Francisco a 2-1 lead. Prior to Tuesday, Yastrzemski was on a 7-for-15 streak over his previous four games and had led the Giants with a .343 batting average (12-for-35) in 10 home games this season.

The Giants scored first in the second inning after a couple of miscues by the Cardinals’ defense.

After Thairo Estrada reached base on an infield single, he reached second on a stolen base then advanced to third as the throw by Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras wound up in center field. But Carlson overran the ball, allowing Estrada to score as he slid head-first across home plate.

St. Louis got that run back in the top of the third, as Edman homered on a 88 mph changeup from Manaea, who has now allowed five home runs in 16 1/3 innings this season. Manaea gave up a combined 54 homers in 337 1/3 innings the last two seasons, one with Oakland and one with San Diego.

NOTES: Joc Pederson’s first-inning single, which had an exit velocity of 116.6 mph, was not only the hardest hit ball of his career in the Statcast-era (2015-pres.), it was also the second-hardest hit ball by any Giant in that same time frame. Mac Williamson holds the team record of 116.8 mph set on July 3, 2016. … Tuesday’s crowd was the second-smallest of the season in 12 home games, bettering only Monday’s announced attendance of 20,203.