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J.D. Davis' walk-off homer lifts SF Giants to 3-2 victory over Red Sox

Sean Manaea and Wilmer Flores starred for much of the game, but the SF Giants needed a walk-off hit to defeat the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.

Marc Delucchi

J.D. Davis' walk-off homer lifts SF Giants to 3-2 victory over Red Sox
J.D. Davis' walk-off homer lifts SF Giants to 3-2 victory over Red Sox /
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The SF Giants defeated the Boston Red Sox 3-2 in a Saturday afternoon matchup at Oracle Park. Sean Manaea delivered one of his best performances of the season, leading an impressive bullpen-game effort. With the victory, the Giants improved to 57-48 on the season and pulled within 2.5 games of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the top spot in the National League West. They are also a game ahead of the Miami Marlins for the final Wild Card spot in the National League.

SF Giants first baseman Wilmer Flores hits a single against the Boston Red Sox during the third inning at Oracle Park on July 29, 2023.
SF Giants 1B Wilmer Flores singles against the Boston Red Sox on July 29, 2023 / John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

Opener Ryan Walker worked around a double by Justin Turner in a shutout first inning and set the stage for the Giants to jump ahead against starting pitcher James Paxton. Left fielder Austin Slater, the lone Giants starter without a Taylor Swift-themed walk-up song, led off the bottom of the first with a single and scored on a double by Wilmer Flores. Flores continued his scorching hot July, finishing the day 3-for-4 at the plate. He is now hitting .379/.432/.697 this month.

J.D. Davis singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out, but Paxton struck out Patrick Bailey and induced ground outs from Luis Matos and Michael Conforto to escape the inning without allowing another run.

Walker did not allow another baserunner, striking out three across 2.2 shutout innings of work. Manaea will rightfully get the lion's share of credit for the bullpen's effort, but Walker had an impressive outing in his own right. The rookie's ability to handle a larger workload than the traditional one-inning opener has added another dimension to the Giants' bullpen games.

Eventually, Giants manager Gabe Kapler called upon the Manaea. It's been an up-and-down season for the veteran lefty, but Manaea has been quite effective out of the bullpen and has quietly been trending back toward a spot in the rotation.

Unlike Walker and Manaea, Paxton consistently worked around baserunners during his outing. He surrendered eight hits and two walks in five innings pitched but still managed to keep the Giants from building upon their early 1-0 lead.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora turned to left-handed reliever Richard Bleier in the bottom of the sixth. Bleier allowed a single to Marco Luciano and hit Casey Schmitt to put two runners on with nobody out. Mike Yastrzemski laid down a sacrifice bunt to bring the top of the order to the plate with a pair of players in scoring position, and Slater drove in Luciano with a ground out to second baseman Christian Arroyo.

Manaea picked up where Walker left off, striking out five and surrendering just two baserunners on a pair of singles in 4.2 innings pitched. Manaea worked into the eighth inning, passing the shutout effort on to top setup arm Tyler Rogers and closer Camilo Doval. 

Rogers retired the only two batters he faced to finish the eighth. But Doval quickly found himself struggling in the ninth. Doval walked pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida to start the inning and then surrendered a towering double to Jarren Duran that bounced high off the right-field wall. Turner hit a ground ball up the middle that bounced off a diving Schmitt's glove into center field for a game-tying double. Doval did not allow another runner to reach base in the inning, but the Red Sox had tied things up at 2.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Red Sox deployed closer Kenley Jansen for the second-consecutive night. Unlike Friday night's loss, the Giants were able to score against the former Dodgers closer. J.D. Davis led off the inning by crushing a walk-off home run on the first pitch of the inning. Sending the Giants home happy.

After splitting the first two games of the series, the SF Giants and Red Sox will face off in a rubber match on Sunday afternoon. Neither team has announced their probable starting pitcher. First pitch at Oracle Park is scheduled for 1:05 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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