SF Giants: The 10 games that won the NL West
Months of disbelief from every corner of the baseball world finally gave way to the unmistakable truth about these San Francisco Giants.
They really are championship material.
Yet the kind of magic that took place at raucous Oracle Park on Sunday, when the Giants clinched the National League West title, didn’t just appear out of nowhere.
It was a long, sometimes torturous journey leading to San Francisco’s improbable title-clinching win over the Padres. The Giants’ unexpected path to glory included some forks in the road and obstacles in the way. None were enough to allow the Dodgers to become division champions for the ninth straight time.
Pitcher Logan Webb will long be remembered for his starring role Sunday, when his seven strong innings and first career home run highlighted the 11-4 victory on the regular season’s final day. But not to be forgotten are the many magical moments paving the way to a franchise-record 107 wins and a division crown by the narrowest of margins.
After all, Webb might not get to enjoy a game for the ages Sunday if Mike Tauchman doesn’t climb the Dodger Stadium wall in May to rob Albert Pujols of a game-winning home run.
Dominic Leone might not get to record the title-winning out and triumphantly hug Buster Posey Sunday if Wilmer Flores doesn’t blast a ninth-inning, game-winning homer off the Dodgers’ Kenley Jansen in July.
And certainly, manager Gabe Kapler doesn’t get to triumphantly grab the microphone to celebrate winning the division with the crowd if LaMonte Wade Jr. doesn’t hit a pinch-hit, game-winning homer in the ninth in August against the A’s.
Still trying to figure out how the Giants won the West? In chronological order, here are 10 games that were turning points for the Giants that may help you understand:
May 28: TAUCHMAN’S TAKEAWAY
GIANTS 8, Dodgers 5 (10 innings)
Tauchman takes back a walk-off! pic.twitter.com/gRCjUOqPFL
— MLB (@MLB) May 29, 2021
The Giants were inches away from a devastating defeat in Los Angeles but left fielder Mike Tauchman leaped over the fence to catch Albert Pujols’ would-be walk-off home run in the ninth inning.
Reliever Tyler Rogers had just surrendered a game-tying three-run homer to pinch hitter Austin Barnes when Pujols launched what appeared to be the game-winner.
Evan Longoria’s two-run double was then the big blow in the Giants’ three-run 10th inning off Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen that won it. The come-from-behind win pulled the Giants into a first-place tie with the Dodgers.
Quote: “Sometimes the ball goes in, sometimes it doesn’t, and that time it did. I just happened to make the play for the boys.” – Mike Tauchman
June 23: UPON FURTHER REVIEW, GIANTS WIN
GIANTS 9, Angels 3 (13 innings)
You had to see this one to believe it. Fireworks blasted in Anaheim while the Angels spilled onto the field to celebrate a victory over the Giants .. until an instant replay review ruled Buster Posey actually tagged out Jose Lagares to end the 12th inning.
Then, with the Angels employing an outfielder at catcher and a pitcher in left field in the 13th, the Giants exploded for seven runs. Not only did the 13 innings mark the longest game since the runner-on-second rule was instituted, but the Giants hadn’t scored seven runs in an extra inning in 81 years.
The big blow in this win was Mike Tauchman’s three-run home run — when he was a strike away from tying the MLB record with his sixth strikeout of the game.
Lost in the madness was the pitching duel between Shohei Ohtani and Kevin Gausman, who each gave up one run into the seventh inning. And, with Ohtani in the lineup, the Angels became the first-ever AL team to give up the designated hitter in a game in which a National League team used one.
Remember that saying that there’s always a chance you’ll see something you’ve never seen before at a baseball game? Well, there’s your proof.
Quote: “Did you pitch in this game?” Gabe Kapler jokingly asked Gausman after the nearly 5-hour game.
July 21: FLORES HELPS GIANTS DODGE DEFEAT
GIANTS 4, Dodgers 2
Wilmer Flores’ stunning two-run home run off Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen in the ninth inning enabled the Giants to remain in first place ahead of their rivals for the 53rd consecutive day.
Nearly as important was Giants closer Tyler Rogers’ redemption game. The submariner vowed to have “a celebratory Bud Light” over notching the save a night after he surrendered a walk-off three-run homer by the Dodgers’ Will Smith.
Flores, who Kapler said is as clutch as any hitter the Giants have had the last two years, launched a Jansen cutter 406 feet into the left field bleachers.
Quote: “I was looking for something exactly where he threw it. Something hard and something up.” – Wilmer Flores
July 22: ANOTHER STUNNING RALLY
GIANTS 5, Dodgers 3
No one realized it at the time, but we were introduced to the real beginning of “Late Night LaMonte” when LaMonte Wade Jr. hit a game-winning two-run single off suddenly beleaguered Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen.
Wade’s heroics made life rough for Jansen and helped the Giants increase their division lead over L.A. to three games. Jansen was booed loudly while being replaced when he blew the lead for the second straight night.
Things should have ended much differently. Darin Ruf was ruled to have checked his swing on a 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded, though replays showed he went around. Instead of a game-ending strikeout, Ruf drew a game-tying walk.
Quote: “To do what we did the last two nights against one of the game’s best closers really speaks a lot to the toughness of this team, the always-grinding kind of attitude.” Darin Ruf
July 27: DODGER BLEW IT … AGAIN
GIANTS 2, Dodgers 1
Blown saves. Errant throws. The Dodgers just figured out ways to crumble in the clutch against the Giants this season.
The Giants benefited from another late-inning Dodgers blunder when Los Angeles first baseman Cody Bellinger’s errant throw in the eighth inning allowed Buster Posey to score the winning run.
While trying to turn a double play, Bellinger fired a throw high off the screen behind third base and Posey trotted home as the Oracle Park crowd of 32,878 roared its approval as L.A. fell three games behind.
Quote: “We were all yelling and high-fiving and stuff and happy he that he threw the ball the way he did and we were able to score.” – Logan Webb on Bellinger’s game-ending error
Aug. 5: MORE ‘LATE NIGHT LAMONTE’ HEROICS
GIANTS 5, Diamondbacks 4 (10 innings)
LaMonte Wade Jr. added to his fast-growing late-night resume when he delivered a two-out, two-strike, two-run, game-tying single in the ninth inning in Arizona.
Trailing 4-0 heading into the inning, the Giants rallied for the tie and then won it on Kris Bryant’s RBI single in the 10th inning to go to a season-high 29 games over .500.
It marked the first time since 1993 the Giants won when entering the ninth inning trailing by four or more runs, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Quote: “We had no business winning that game. But I’ve been a part of a few teams that do well later in the game with their backs against the wall and this team definitely has it.” – Kris Bryant
Aug. 21: WADE SINKS A’S WITH BLAST
GIANTS 6, A’s 5
LaMonte Wade Jr. comes through in the clutch!
(MLB x @GEICO) pic.twitter.com/KVmmBhc7Du
— MLB (@MLB) August 21, 2021
Two outs away from a disappointing defeat to the crossbay rival A’s? No problem, when LaMonte Wade Jr. is at the plate.
Wade was sent up to pinch hit with San Francisco trailing 5-4 and he connected for a two-run homer in the ninth inning as the Giants rallied for a much-needed victory. The win not only prevented a three-game losing streak, it left the Giants 35 games over .500 and increased their division lead over the Dodgers to 1 ½ games.
The Giants muscled up for four home runs against Oakland, including a pair from Darin Ruf and Brandon Belt in the seventh inning to set the stage for Wade’s eventual winner.
Quote: “It was just such a great game. Our offense was able to come from behind and put together some real strong at-bats and I just wanted to follow suit and do the same thing.” – LaMonte Wade Jr.
Aug. 22: GIANTS MAKE HISTORY, DEMORALIZE A’S
GIANTS 2, A’s 1
A day after Wade’s game-winning pinch-hit homer, Donovan Solano also delivered in a pinch for the Giants. Solano blasted a two-run home run off A’s reliever A.J. Puk to send San Francisco to another stunning win.
Solano’s home run not only helped the Giants become baseball’s first to 80 wins, it turned out to be historic. His homer made the Giants the first team in MLB history to hit pinch-hit homers to erase a deficit and take a lead in the eighth inning or later in back-to-back games.
In addition to widening the Giants’ NL West lead to 2 ½ games, Solano’s blast was the Giants’ 14th pinch-hit homer of the season, which tied a franchise record.
Quote: “Our guys are ready for those moments, they know what they’re looking for, they know what needs to be done.” – Gabe Kapler
Sept. 3: L.A. THROWS GIANTS INTO FIRST PLACE
GIANTS 3, Dodgers 2 (11 innings)
The Giants took advantage of yet another late-game Dodgers blunder to beat L.A. in 11 innings and take over sole possession of first place in the West.
Dodgers second baseman Trea Turner’s throw pulled the first baseman off the bag and allowed Buster Posey to reach safely on a bases-loaded grounder to end the game. The Giants’ celebration was put on hold during a long video replay review until finally the verdict was in and they had won.
The game marked the first time since 1997 that the Giants and Dodgers were tied for the division lead in September.
Quote: “It was fun. it was back and forth, the crowd was into it. It was definitely like a playoff atmosphere and those games are fun to play in.” – Brandon Crawford
Sept. 5: GIANTS BOMB BUEHLER
GIANTS 6, Dodgers 4
Cy Young candidate Walker Buehler against a large collection of Giants relief pitchers? On paper, it was the mismatch of the season. In reality, it just further proved that this is just the Giants’ year.
But the Dodgers ace, who had given up just three earned runs in his previous five starts against the Giants this season, was knocked out of the game after three innings.
San Francisco became the first team this year to score six runs off Buehler, who gave up a first-inning homer to Brandon Belt and a two-run triple to Steven Duggar to help seal his fate.
The Giants used nine different relievers as they re-took the division lead over L.A.
Quote: “We don’t panic. We’ve been in some tough situations before, but there’s no panic. We really, genuinely feel like we have a chance to win the ballgame no matter what the score is and I think that’s helped us throughout the year.” – Brandon Belt