San Francisco Giants Newcomer Delivers Epic Finish To First Home Game

Mark Canha walked off his former team in his first home game in San Francisco.

Aug 9, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants designated hitter Mark Canha is mobbed by his teammates. / D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

Mark Canha couldn't have scripted his first San Francisco Giants home game any better.

After being traded from the Detroit Tigers at the July 30 trade deadline, Canha finally made his Oracle Park debut for the Giants on Friday. It was a big moment for the 35-year-old veteran, who grew up in San Jose, rooted for San Francisco as a kid and played seven seasons for the Oakland A's.

And if that wasn't enough, the Giants were facing Canha's old team, the Tigers, raising the stakes even higher.

The game lived up to the hype and then some. Detroit jumped out to an early lead and took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, but San Francisco rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth. That set the stage for a dramatic bottom of the ninth with the game on the line.

Just like that it's a tie game, Canha believe it? 😅 pic.twitter.com/a0PEd1uS6w

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 10, 2024

Facing Tigers closer Jason Foley, Heliot Ramos led off by reaching on a Colt Keith fielding error. Foley immediately unraveled, walking Michael Conforto and hitting Matt Chapman with a pitch to load the bases with nobody out.

Shelby Miller replaced Foley and got Mike Yastrzemski to ground into a force out. Ramos was cut down at home, but the bases were still loaded with only one out.

That brought up Canha, who had already singled and scored the game-tying run in the eighth. Now in his 10th season with over 1,000 MLB games under his belt, Canha knew what he needed to do: hit the ball in the air.

Sure enough, that's exactly what he did. After working the count to 2-2, Canha lifted a fly ball to left field that was plenty deep enough, bringing home Conforto for the game-winning run and sending Oracle Park into a frenzy.

MARK CANHA WALKS IT OFF IN HIS FIRST HOME GAME AS A GIANT 🙌 pic.twitter.com/IcXHk4LOXM

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 10, 2024

Canha is now 8-for-18 (.444) with three RBI since joining the Giants, who are 4-1 with him in the lineup. He may have seemed like a minor addition at the time, but he's already having a major impact.