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Wilmer Flores sparks SF Giants 7-5 comeback victory over Dodgers

The SF Giants were being no-hit by Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Emmet Shaheen, but a two-run blast by Wilmer Flores turned things around.

Marc Delucchi

Wilmer Flores sparks SF Giants 7-5 comeback victory over Dodgers
Wilmer Flores sparks SF Giants 7-5 comeback victory over Dodgers /
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The SF Giants found a way to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night, winning a dramatic 11-inning affair 7-5. The Giants have now won five-straight games and are 37-32 on the season. They are 1.5 games back of the Dodgers for second place in the National League West and 4.5 games back of the Diamondbacks for the top spot.

John Brebbia and Ryan Walker started off a bullpen game for the Giants before turning things over to Sean Manaea. Manaea got off to a strong start, but a four-run fifth inning seemed to sink the Giants' chances. But that would not be the case.

The Dodgers turned to Emmet Sheehan as their starter on Friday night in his first-career MLB start, calling the righty up from Double-A. Sheehan capitalized on a strike zone that favored pitches up with a mid-90s fastball that is particularly difficult to square up. While Sheehan issued a walk, he did not allow a hit across six innings pitched.

With Sheehan on a tight pitch count, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts turned to his bullpen. He called upon righty Brusdar Graterol. Giants second baseman Thairo Estrada led off the seventh inning with a single to end the Dodgers' chances of a no-hitter.

With the no-hitter over, Wilmer Flores did not wait long to put an end to the shutout. After a prolonged break from fouling a ball off his foot, Flores squared up a breaking ball from Graterol and sent it over the left-field wall for a two-run home run.

Luke Jackson shut out the Dodgers in the bottom half of the seventh inning. In the bottom half of the inning, Luis Matos (Giants preseason #4 prospect) worked a leadoff walk, and Austin Slater followed him up with a single to put two runners on base. In a rare opportunity against a left-handed pitcher, Joc Pederson managed to poke a ground ball through the left side of the infield for an RBI base hit. Then, after a pitching change, Estrada tied the game with a sacrifice fly.

The Dodgers intentionally walked Michael Conforto to bring Casey Schmitt (Giants preseason #3 prospect) to the plate with runners on the corners. Schmitt quickly fell behind in the count 0-2, but kept himself alive. Schmitt grounded a 2-2 slider to shortstop Miguel Rojas. Rojas slid to his right and made the stop, but Schmitt beat out his throw to first base. Schmitt had an RBI infield single and gave the Giants a 5-4 lead.

Tyler Rogers shut out the Dodgers in the bottom of the eighth, but Giants closer Camilo Doval blew his first save in more than a month. Doval had his elite stuff on full display, but a seeing-eye single and bloop hit allowed them to tie the game at 5.

Neither team scored in the 10th inning, with Taylor Rogers shutting down the Dodgers in the bottom half of the inning. Then, a one-out walk by Matos in the top of the 11th sparked a two-run rally that featured RBI singles by Brandon Crawford and Slater.

With limited options remaining, Giants manager Gabe Kapler turned to Jakob Junis who did not allow a hit, walk, or run en route to the save.

The SF Giants have yet to announce their starting pitcher for Saturday's matchup, although the team is expected to activate southpaw Alex Wood from the injured list. Whoever gets the nod will face off against Dodgers rookie Bobby Miller. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 PM Pacific.

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Marc Delucchi
MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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