Talk about a flair for the dramatics.
Down by one in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded, Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski swung on the first pitch he saw from Milwaukee Brewers' closer Josh Hader. Not only did Yastrzemski connect on the 96-mph fastball, but he also crushed the game-winning grand slam, giving the Giants the dramatic 8-5 win and sending the team and fans home happy.
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"We put a lot of good at-bats at the end," Yastrzemski said postgame. "It's one of those things where we kind of had a few going in the ninth there and felt like something special was going to happen."
In all, three Giants hit home runs in the ninth: Joey Bart, Darin Ruf, and the aforementioned Yastrzemski. Although fans will remember Yastrzemski's home run to cap off the win, Yastrzemski says that it was something Bart did in the dugout during the sixth inning that helped fire up the team.
"'Guys, we're down three runs. We gotta be aggressive, let's go, we're not down by 15'," Yastrzemski recalls Bart saying. "For a guy who is as young as he is, he showed a lot of maturity ... a lot of credit goes to him for keeping that mindset."
In speaking to reporters after the game, Bart downplayed his role in igniting the Giants' comeback.
"No I didn't even say anything, I don't even know where that's coming from," Bart said. "To be honest, I said something to Curt [Casali] just between me and him like 'hey we've gotta get going.' As a young player I don't feel like it's really my role to try and speak out. That's just kind of how I was feeling at the time.
"Like, 'hey, it's not over yet. Let's keep going, let's find a way to win' and magic happened for sure."
It sounds like Bart said something, but it remains unclear exactly who picked up on it other than Casali or if it was just one long game of telephone. Regardless, I guess you could say that the young catcher at least manifested the win, right?
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The Giants will look to keep it going in game three Saturday at 4:15 PM PT at Oracle Park.
