Yesterday
Here are the top 5 August 12 moments in San Francisco Giants history.
1965 home vs. Pirates, a game out of first and hosting a Thursday doubleheader, 3-3 in the 8th, Matty Alou homers off Don Schwall and we win 4-3. Jesus also homered in this one (Matty and Felipe homered in the same game 4 years prior) It's Alou's 12th and final career Giants homer, he's dealt to the Pirates after the season.
Walk off 1966 home vs. Astros, we're a game out, but about to start a 15 game homestand, Gaylord against Mike Cuellar, they both throw complete games, Houston gets 3 hits, we get 4, the 4th hit coming in the bottom of the 9th of a scoreless game - Willie Mays homers to send everyone home happy. 35 year old Mays has a 149 OPS+, his lowest in a decade. Mays hit 6 career walk off homers, this was his 5th and it will be 5 years before he hits another.
Walk off 1973 home vs. Mets, we're 8 out, but walked the Mets off the day before and you could see a path to our making it a race down the stretch, we're down 1-0 with 2 out in the 5th, Tito Fuentes hits a 3 run homer off former Giant Ray Sadecki and we win the game 4-1 (Fuentes drove in that one also). It's Fuentes' 33rd career homer, all with the Giants, he only hits one more in San Francisco and then 11 additional homers.
Walk off 2009 home vs. Dodgers, we've lost 2 straight, dropping to 7.5 out in the west, but we're only a game out in the WC. Sold out Wednesday afternoon crowd, Tim Lincecum goes 8 2/3, gives up just 4 hits, but he's out of the game by the bottom of the 10th when, with the score 2-2, Juan Uribe hit a 2 run walk off homer off of Guillermo Mota to win the game. Earlier, Bruce Bochy and Ron Wotus were both ejected and the benches cleared in the 5th. The Giants took Lincecum 10th overall at of Washington in '06 (Longoria went 3rd, Kershaw 7th, Scherzer 11th, we also took Emmanuel Burriss 33rd). Lincecum was in our rotation the following season; the first five seasons of his career ranged from good to great (he led the league in ERA+ in '08 and had a better one in '09; Lincecum's '08 season is the 17th best for a San Francisco starter, his '09 the 27th; he won the Cy Young both seasons. The next four were pretty terrible, Lincecum went from one of the best to one of the worst pitchers in baseball in 2012 and never found it again. His Giants career ended after 2015, he pitched in 9 games for the Angels in '16 and that was the end of his big league career.
2012 home vs. Rockies, it's game 115, we're a game up in the West, we came into the 8th down 6-4, but tied it at 6 and with 2 out, Hunter Pence hit a 3 run homer off Rafael Betancourt and we win the game 9-6. Pence came over in a deadline deal with the Phillies, this is his 12th game as a Giant and his first Giants home run.
See you tomorrow. Go Giants!
