A series of mishaps led to a Little League-style walk-off victory for the San Francisco Giants in their series-ending game against the Texas Rangers.
In the bottom of the ninth, and with the score tied 2-2, leadoff hitter Heliot Ramos took a hack at the very first pitch that he saw off Rangers closer Luke Jackson.
He made just enough contact with the ball for it to roll on the infield grass in fair territory, forcing Jackson to come off the mound and make a play.
Jackson bare-handed the ball and tried to turn around and whip it over to first baseman Jake Burger for what should have been a stellar out.
Instead, Jackson’s throw went low and wide of first base – causing Burger to lunge after it, stumbling, and missing the grab.
As the ball rolled further into foul territory, Ramos started running for second base.
Heliot Ramos scored the game-winning run Little League-style for the San Francisco Giants
Ramos tapped the first pitch he saw back to Texas Rangers closing pitcher Luke Jackson
Jackson’s throw went wide of first baseman Jake Burger, leading Ramos to round the bases
When Burger’s throw to get him out at third went wide too, Ramos raced home for the winner
The ball kicked off the side wall about halfway between Burger and right fielder Adolis Garcia, with neither particularly close to grabbing it.
Ramos appeared unaware of this as cameras caught him slowly jogging to second base as Burger still hadn’t reached the ball.
Once he realized how far away the fielders were, he turned on the jets again and tried to leg out a triple.
When Burger finally got his hands on the ball, he tried beating Ramos to third base by slinging a throw across the diamond to third-baseman Josh Smith.
Burger’s throw had enough arm on it, but was nowhere near the bag as Smith dove and missed – causing the ball to fly by him.
Ramos, who slid into third base, saw the miss, got up and started running home with no Rangers players able to corral Burger’s errant toss in time.
Once again, he slid headfirst – this time, into home plate as Oracle Park in San Francisco roared in celebration of the Giants’ walk-off 3-2 victory.
San Francisco won the series two games to one after dropping the first matchup on Friday. The Giants are now 19-10 in their still-developing season and now lead the powerhouse NL West by half a game over the rival Los Angeles Dodgers.
