Junis returns to form, Crawford walks off D-backs for SF Giants’ fifth straight win
It took a walk-off home run from Brandon Crawford after Junis allowed 1 run over a season-high 7 innings but was bested by Merrill Kelly's 7 shutout innings.
SAN FRANCISCO — In a positive development for the Giants’ postseason hopes, Jakob Junis returned to form Tuesday night against the Diamondbacks. A not-so-good development saw the Giants fail to crack their Kryptonite this season that has taken the form of Arizona right-hander Merrill Kelly.
The best development, though, waited until the end.
After being blanked for eight innings and two outs into the ninth, Brandon Crawford sent a walk-off home run over the center field wall to beat the D-backs, 2-1, extending their winning streak to five games.
“I knew I hit it pretty good, so I though it had a chance,” Crawford said. “Off the bat, I knew I hit it pretty well.”
The Giants were down to their final strike against Arizona closer Ian Kennedy, but Thairo Estrada extended the game by tripling off the arcade in right field — nearly reprising his role as Sunday’s walk-off hero — to set up Crawford’s walk-off shot.
The Giants, who were without a walk-off home run since 2020, have hit three in the past month, including two in the past three days. Crawford’s homer — his first since June 3 and only his sixth this season — followed Estrada’s walk-off shot to beat the Pirates on Sunday.
“There’s always a chance,” Estrada said, smiling, through Spanish-language translator Erwin Higueros.
The game appeared to be over before any of the ninth-inning heroics. Estrada took a 2-2 offering from Kennedy, then turned around and looked at home plate umpire Cory Blaser, who looked ready to ring him up.
Blaser’s strike-three call never came, though, and Estrada sent the next pitch just out of reach of a leaping Daulton Varsho and off the wall in right field. Estrada initially thought he might’ve had a second ninth-inning homer in three days, but, he said, “we’re playing in San Francisco, so when I saw the ball hit the wall, I just ran as fast as I could.”
“It did look like (Blaser) was going to call strike there,” manager Gabe Kapler said.
“I did see (Blaser) step back like he was gonna call it a strike,” Crawford said. “Good take by Thairo, and then a good rest of his at-bat.”
It took only two pitches after Estrada chugged in to third for Crawford to end it.
Junis, who limited Arizona to one run over seven innings in his longest outing of the season, sprinted from the weight room back to the field once he heard the roar of the crowd.
“I thought maybe (Estrada) hit a home run, the way they were cheering,” Junis said. “I knew for sure we scored a run, but the way they cheered for the next one with Crawford, I was like, I don’t know if that’s just a hit. That might be a home run. … Everybody just went crazy. It was awesome.”
With San Diego’s loss in Miami, the Giants picked up a game in the wild card race but remain 4.5 games out of playoff position with 46 to play.
After firing his 101st and final pitch past Seth Beer for strike three and the final out of the seventh inning, Junis pumped his fist. The pitch was the 16th swing-and-miss Junis generated, finished off his seventh strikeout victim and ended his finest outing since returning from a strained hamstring.
After struggling for his first four starts since coming off the injured list to rediscover the slider that led to his first-half success, Junis had full control of all three pitches in his arsenal Tuesday night.
He retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced after allowing a solo home run to first baseman Christian Walker to lead off the fourth inning, which amounted to the only damage the D-backs were able to do against him.
“That home run almost woke me up or lit a fire under me a little bit,” Junis said. “I stopped worrying about mechanics or what my stuff was doing at that time and just started throwing everything with full intent and believing in every pitch. The results came those last few innings.”
Junis hadn’t completed five innings since being activated just before the All-Star break while posting a 7.16 ERA. In seven innings on Tuesday, he resembled the pitcher who posted a 2.63 ERA prior to the injury — possibly even better.
The 16 bats Junis missed were six more than he had in any previous start, and his seven strikeouts were one shy of matching a season-high. The 101 pitches he used to complete seven innings both also marked season-highs, good signals that Junis is at or near full health.
“I knew the slider was moving and it was better than it had been,” Junis said. “I kind of lost it there for a little bit but after the home run I just stopped thinking and just threw it and trusted in it.”
Junis used his signature slider to record 11 of those 16 swings and misses and to finish off six of his seven strikeouts but left one hanging, which Walker put over the left-field wall for his 29th home run this season and his second this series.
The D-backs’ lone damage off Junis was nearly enough with Kelly on the bump.
In four starts against San Francisco this season, Kelly has allowed four runs over 28⅓ innings, a 1.27 ERA. After blanking the Giants for eight innings in their last meeting, Kelly didn’t allow a run over seven shutout innings on Tuesday.
“I think we’re all still trying to figure out how to have success against Merrill Kelly,” Kapler said. “If you look at his numbers, he’s among baseball’s best pitchers, so it’s no surprise that we’re having difficulty with him; the entire league is having difficulty with him.”
