SAN FRANCISCO -- Bob Melvin has managed in the Majors for 22 seasons. He¡¯s never seen an ending quite like the one that unfolded on Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park.
For the second straight day, the Giants came back to beat the Rangers in the bottom of the ninth inning, rallying for a wild 3-2 walk-off win on Heliot Ramos' Little League home run off Texas closer Luke Jackson.
Ramos led off the inning with a soft ground ball to the left side that was fielded by Jackson, who then made an errant throw that bounced past first baseman Jake Burger and rolled into foul territory. Ramos easily advanced to second base, but he didn¡¯t realize that no one was in position to back up Burger and started to slow down before attempting to take third.
That hesitation ended up working in his favor, as it forced Burger to make another ill-fated throw that bounced past third baseman Josh Smith, allowing Ramos to complete his trip around the bases and give the Giants back-to-back walk-off wins for the first time since July 29-30, 2023, against the Red Sox.
¡°It was quite literally Lemony Snicket¡¯s Series of Unfortunate Events,¡± Jackson said.
After making a head-first slide across the plate, a gassed Ramos stayed splayed across home for several seconds before he was pulled up by his jersey by a jubilant Willy Adames and LaMonte Wade Jr.
¡°The way he slid into home plate was pretty funny,¡± Wade said. ¡°I didn¡¯t think he was going to get up.¡±
¡°Just kind of crazy all the way around,¡± Melvin said.
Ramos ended up going from home-to-home in 18.67 seconds, posting an average sprint speed of 29 feet per second, which is above the Major League average of 27 feet per second.
¡°I just wanted to get to first and then when I saw the ball was thrown away, I went to second,¡± Ramos said. ¡°I honestly didn¡¯t know if they were backing up, making an assist or something like that. I just stopped at second base. I thought they had the ball already, and then I saw [third base coach] Matt [Williams] waving me in. I just kept going. When I saw the ball going and they threw it away at third, I just kept going. I was trying to play it safe, but I guess I had it.¡±
Ramos said he couldn¡¯t remember the last time he hit a Little League home run, but he knows the Giants probably won¡¯t let him forget about Sunday¡¯s mad dash anytime soon.
¡°It¡¯s going to be crazy,¡± Ramos said. ¡°They¡¯re probably going to put it in the hitters meeting, just making fun of me and stuff like that.¡±
Burger said he didn¡¯t know until after the play that Ramos had hesitated at second base, but he was always going to make that throw to third because he didn¡¯t want the winning run with no outs at third base.
¡°I¡¯m trying to be as aggressive as I can without looking like my hair¡¯s on fire,¡± Burger said. ¡°It just needs to be on the money. I¡¯m not going to give myself an excuse. If it¡¯s on the money we¡¯re not having this conversation."
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said he had no issue with Jackson or Burger attempting to make those throws as opposed to holding the ball, adding that the final play was ¡°right up there¡± with the most incredible endings he¡¯s ever seen in his 28-year managerial career.
¡°Luke makes a good pitch, gets a dribbler and you get walked off,¡± Bochy said. ¡°I know it¡¯s happened, but you don¡¯t see it very often. Unfortunately, it happened today.¡±
With their MLB-high fifth walk-off win of the season, the Giants took two of three from the Rangers to stay atop the National League West with a 19-10 record. They went 10-7 over a daunting stretch of 17 games in 17 days and will now get to enjoy their first day off since April 10 on Monday before kicking off a big two-game series against the division rival Padres (17-11) at Petco Park on Tuesday.
¡°To be able to post up -- day games, night games, travel, East Coast, West Coast -- it was pretty significant, and these guys just continue to go out there and fight,¡± Melvin said. ¡°Our best work is usually done at the end. I think they handled 17 in a row really well.¡±
The Giants got on the board via Wilmer Flores¡¯ bases-loaded walk off Rangers starter Jack Leiter in the first inning and then rallied to tie the game in the fourth, when Ramos singled and stole second to help set up Christian Koss¡¯ two-out RBI single to left off left-hander Jacob Latz. It was the first career RBI for Koss, who made his second consecutive start at second base to give Tyler Fitzgerald more time to recover from a chest contusion.
Ramos, of course, ended up using his wheels to score the winning run in the ninth as well, even if it was in the most unconventional way possible.
¡°We hang around long enough, we find a way to win a game,¡± Melvin said. ¡°That¡¯s just kind of a new way.¡±