Eli White slid home with the winning run on Wilyer Abreu’s fielder’s choice, as the Boston Red Sox erased a 2-0, ninth-inning deficit and walked off with a 3-2 win over the visiting San Francisco Giants on Saturday night.
With the bases loaded, Giants first baseman Bryce Eldridge made a great diving stop on Abreu’s low liner, but his throw pulled catcher Andrew Knizner’s foot off home plate as he tried to complete the force play.
White broke San Francisco’s shutout bid with a one-out single up the middle off Sam Hentges (1-6), scoring Caleb Durbin, who went 2-for-3 before drawing a leadoff walk that sparked the game-turning rally. Nick Sogard followed immediately with a game-tying double to left.
Wyatt Olds (1-0) recorded four outs to nab his first career victory.
In the top of the ninth, San Francisco had the bases loaded after a single and two walks, but Sogard’s diving catch at second base robbed Eldridge of a hit that would have padded a two-run lead.
The Giants were in full control until the ninth, as Blade Tidwell struck out a career-high seven in 5 2/3 shutout innings and Willy Adames (2-for-4) and Knizner (3-for-4) both hit solo home runs the first time through the batting order against Boston’s Patrick Sandoval.
The duo combined for five of San Francisco’s eight hits.
The Red Sox had a runner in scoring position only once before Mickey Gasper’s leadoff double in the eighth, but Dylan Smith worked through a bases-loaded, no-out jam to end that inning without any damage.
After back-to-back homers helped the Giants back into the series opener on Friday, Adames gave them an early 1-0 lead with a two-out solo shot over the Green Monster in the first inning. The shortstop has now eclipsed the 20-homer plateau in six straight seasons.
Tidwell made the early offense stand tall, striking out the side in order in Boston’s first at-bats before brushing off base hits in each of the following three innings.
In the third, No. 9 batter Knizner’s first of the season — a leadoff blast out to deep center — doubled the visitors’ advantage.
After Knizner made it 2-0, Adames lined a hard single into the left-field corner in between two walks to load the bases, but Sandoval escaped the jam with his second strikeout of the inning and a ground ball.
The Red Sox had two on with two outs following a Sogard single and a Ceddanne Rafaela walk in the third, but Tidwell struck out Abreu for the second time. A 4-6-3 double play erased Willson Contreras’ leadoff single in the fourth.
