Hunter Pence’s game-tying home run in the ninth inning gave the Giants a chance to benefit from Jeff Samardzija’s effective start. But Matt Kemp was the last to take advantage of SunTrust Park’s cozy confines, as his two-run homer off Cory Gearrin gave the Braves a 5-3, 11-inning win over the Giants Wednesday night.
Nick Markakis drew a one-out walk before Kemp drilled a 1-0 slider that snuck over the top of the right-field wall. This was the Braves’ third walk-off win within their past five games.
“Other teams have taken advantage of our surroundings, so when Matt hit that one out, I said, ‘I love our ballpark,'” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
Sean Newcomb impressed in his third career start, as he limited the Giants to one run over six innings and retired the last 13 batters he faced. The rookie left-hander threw just 80 pitches before he was lifted, possibly because of work he had done before rain delayed the start of the game for one hour and 15 minutes.
The Giants tallied an eighth-inning run courtesy of Arodys Vizcaino’s wild pitch and tied the game in the ninth on Pence’s solo homer off Jim Johnson, who has blown five of his 18 save opportunities.
Samardzija limited his damage to three runs over seven innings. The lone run of support the righty received while in the game came courtesy of Brandon Belt’s second-inning RBI triple down the right-field line.
Hours after Freddie Freeman confirmed he was planning to play third base when he returns from the disabled list, Matt Adams provided further reason for the veteran first baseman to make this unselfish decision. His two-run shot, which traveled a Statcast-projected 406 feet over the right-center-field wall, was his 11th home run in a span of 117 at-bats since being acquired from the Cardinals to serve as Freeman’s replacement.
“You feel good every time he comes to the plate,” Snitker said. “He’s just making the most of a really good opportunity.”
Samardzija recorded three strikeouts during a perfect sixth inning and then allowed Flowers to connect on a 2-1 curveball that bounced off the top of the left-field wall and was initially ruled a single. A boundary review showed the ball hit the net connected to the foul pole, giving Flowers his sixth homer of the season and third within a span of 21 at-bats.
“I think that we all thought, including Flowers, that the ball was foul,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “I guess he hit it off the end of the bat, it spun back fair, and hit the top of the fence to bounce over. That’s a bad break and ended up being a big run.”
Flowers did not initially run out of the box because he was sure the ball would land in foul territory.
“Not too far past third base, I felt it was 10-plus feet foul and hooking,” Flowers said. “Thank goodness it went out, not only to get a home run, but to not end up with a single on something like that. That would have been the more embarrassing part.”
Jaime Garcia will take the mound when Thursday’s series finale begins at 6:35 p.m. CT. Before enduring a five-run fifth inning during Saturday’s win over the Marlins, Garcia had allowed four runs or less in each of his 12 starts.
