SAN DIEGO — It’s not a surprise when you lose in the late innings to the San Diego Padres, who have as good a back end of the bullpen as anyone in baseball. But this certainly was an interesting way to do it.
The Giants rallied in the eighth at Petco Park but ultimately lost 6-5 on a Jake Cronenworth walk-off in the bottom of the ninth.
The game was close throughout, and the Giants, trailing by a pair, loaded the bases in the eighth against Jeremiah Estrada. For a moment, it appeared that would be as far as they would get.
The Padres called on Mason Miller, the game’s best reliever, for a five-out save, and he buzzed through Grant McCray after entering the game. But with two outs, Osleivis Basabe stunned a sellout crowd.
The 25-year-old got an elevated 102.9-mph fastball from Miller and yanked it into the corner for a game-tying two-run double. The ball left his bat at 109.6 mph, and gave him an impressive honor in his first start as a Giant. That was the hardest pitch any Giant has turned into a base hit in the Statcast era, topping a Gregor Blanco single on a 102.4 mph pitch from Jordan Hicks in 2018. It was...