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SAN FRANCISCO — J.D. Davis needed just one pitch to hit his 14th home run of the season, a walk off blast in the ninth inning that gave the Giants a 3-2 win on Saturday over the Boston Red Sox at Oracle Park.
Davis belted the first pitch he saw from Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen over the left field wall, electrifying a Giants crowd that a few moments earlier had watched Boston tie the game with two runs in the top of the ninth.
The bat was in the air almost as long as the ball was, with Davis letting the stick fly with a dramatic flourish before rounding the bases.
“I was just happy it stayed fair, because it was hooking a little bit,” Davis said. “I just had to pause there and really take in the moment, to make sure it was fair or foul because it was hooking right to left.”
It was a majestic shot that his own manager didn’t even see.
“I was talking to other people and thinking about other things, and then when he hit the home run, I watched it (go) off the pole,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said.
Giants pitchers Ryan Walker, Sean Manaea and Tyler Rogers combined to throw eight scoreless innings Saturday. All the Giants needed was for their All-Star closer Camilo Doval to notch his 32nd save of the season while leading 2-0 in the ninth inning.
Instead, longtime Giants nemesis Justin Turner drove in two runs and tied the game — setting the stage for Davis.
The Giants at one point appeared headed for a stress-free victory.
The rookie Walker (3-0) was the Giants’ opener and he cruised through 2 2/3 scoreless innings in which he struck out three and allowed just one hit.
“He’s going to get a few days off now, and we’ll check in with him the next time he makes the most sense to start again,” Kapler said of Walker.
The Giants then turned to Manaea, whose last appearance was a 5 2/3-inning appearance out of the bullpen on July 22 in Washington. Manaea, 31, followed that with 4 2/3 innings of scoreless work against the Red Sox with five strikeouts.
“It was definitely my fastball,” Manaea said when asked about what pitch was working for him. “But I threw a couple of good sliders and a good change(up).”
The top of the Giants order didn’t take long to do damage against Boston starter James Paxton, with Wilmer Flores driving leadoff hitter Austin Slater in from first on a double into deep right field.
Flores went 3 for 5 and has reached base safely in his last 12 games. He is batting 28 for 71 with 12 extra-base hits (.394) since July 2, raising his overall average to .297.
The Giants had several opportunities to expand their lead but failed to deliver that critical hit for much of the game. San Francisco had 11 hits to Boston’s five but left 12 runners on base and went 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position.
“I’d like to see us drive the ball consistently, and I’d like for us to be selective on pitches we can’t drive when there’s a runner on third base and less than two outs,” Kapler said. “Sometimes you go through stretches where it’s not happening, and we’ve gone through that stretch.”
Starting at shortstop, rookie Marco Luciano made it two straight games with a hit, going 2 for 3 with a single and double in front of 37,470 fans. A few batters later, Luciano scored the game’s second run on Slater’s 17th RBI of the season.
After Doval gave up the two-run single to Turner, catcher Patrick Bailey’s fantastic throw prevented pinch-runner Rob Refsnyder from getting into scoring position on a steal attempt.
“I think the way Pat Bailey attacks the baseball to throw out a runner, it’s getting more and more special,” Kapler said. “You saw the energy he took towards Camilo and how quickly he got rid of that ball … it speaks to Pat’s athleticism and just natural gifts.”
Davis’ homer helped the Giants (57-48) hand the Red Sox (56-48) a rare loss (56-48). Boston entered the game on a five-game winning streak and victors in 16 of its last 21. The teams will play again on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
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