San Francisco Giants center fielder Angel Pagan raced around the bases for an inside-the-park, two-run homer to boost his team to a 6-5 home victory in 10 innings over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday.
With Brandon Crawford aboard on second base and one out, Pagan hammered an 0-1 offering from Rockies pitcher Rafael Betancourt off the wall in right-center field.
The carom caused the ball to kick toward the deepest part of San Francisco’s AT&T Park. Michael Cuddyer couldn’t corral it, and by the time it reached center fielder Dexter Fowler, Pagan was already screaming toward third base.
Fowler had an extremely long throw from the warning track, but he effectively hit the cutoff man. The throw to the plate by DJ LeMahieu was pretty strong, yet not quite good enough. Pagan was able to avert the slightly late tag by sliding safely head-first to clinch the win.
The home crowd predictably erupted to the unique walk-off occasion, and several of Pagan’s teammates poured out of the dugout to help him celebrate.
Rockies star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki broke the tie in the top of the 10th with a leadoff home run off of Sergio Romo. The Giants’ pitcher was bailed out by Pagan’s heroics, though, and walked away with his third win of 2013.
Pagan allowed the Giants to pull even with their National League West division rivals at 27-22 on the season. Their series will wrap up on Sunday, as both teams sit half a game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks (27-21) for the NL West lead.
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