Clutch Conforto leads Giants in win to go above .500

WASHINGTON -- As the outskirts of a tropical storm appeared in Thursday’s series finale at Nationals Park, the Giants were unfazed by not one, but two rain delays. The 10th inning began during a brief window of no rain and the lineup got to work.

After the delays and going into extra innings, the Giants rallied for the 9-5 victory over the Nationals. The dramatic win was the exclamation point in the conclusion of a 5-2 road trip before returning home.

“Today was a perfect example of that [fight],” outfielder Michael Conforto said. “They were fighting us in every single one of these games. They are very scrappy and very athletic. It’s just a good ball club over there. And so for us to fight and continue to fight when they punch back, I think it says a lot about the guys here.”

Here are three key moments from the game that helped San Francisco secure its second consecutive series win and go above .500 for the first time since May 30 (29-28):

Tenth inning four-run rally
Jerar Encarnacion -- who signed a Minor League deal with the Giants in May -- began the 10th inning at second base. Right fielder Mike Yastrzemski started off the rally, succeeding in getting the designated hitter to third base and reaching first base himself on a fielder’s choice. Second baseman Brett Wisely -- who entered the game in the ninth inning -- bunted, bringing in Encarnacion to score.

Tyler Fitzgerald and Heliot Ramos were retired, which brought up Conforto, who singled on a fly ball to left, bringing in two more unearned runs for the 8-5 lead. Matt Chapman followed suit, getting the final hit of the night and bringing in Patrick Bailey to extend the gap by another run -- making the score 9-5.

“Talk about some fight,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We’ve shown some fight this year. Whenever you have a lead like that and give it up after all that transpired during that game then come back in the next inning and do what we did. Plus leaving some guys out there with the situational at-bats, that shows a lot of fight.”

Melvin was referring to the 5-2 lead the Giants held heading into the bottom of the ninth. With rain falling and closer Camilo Doval on the mound, the Nationals worked two walks. Down to their last strike with two outs, Luis Garcia Jr. hit an opposite-field home run to send the game to extra innings.

Canha’s four-hit day
After the second rain delay of the day, this time lasting 1:12, the Giants got in the perfect position to get the go-ahead run. With one out in the ninth, Fitzgerald punished Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan with a single to start the rally. Ramos drew a walk and the pair on first and second proceeded to steal third and second.

Conforto’s patience at the plate was rewarded soon with another walk to load the bases.

Canha was up with two outs and bases loaded. He drove the ball into right field and along with an error by the Nationals, brought in three runs to give the Giants the lead.

“He's got two strikes on him and he's just trying to put it in play and fight it over the other way,” Melvin said. “As soon as he's got the devastating split and he's behind the heater a little bit but he wasn't gonna strike out, he didn't try to do too much to put it in place. Sometimes there's something to be said for that.”

Canha tied his career high with four hits. His previous four-hit game came May 31, 2022 vs. the Nats while playing for Mets. It was also his second multi-hit effort for the Giants.

Clutch Conforto’s defensive play of the game
Conforto is clutch at the plate and on the field. When Nationals utility player Ildemaro Vargas smashed the ball into left field in the seventh inning, Conforto used his speed to get under the ball near the bullpen, leaped to make the catch, and, most importantly, kept the game tied at 2.

While the play had a catch probability of 95, the 31-year-old said that he was unsure if the ball was going to make it over the wall or go out.

“Some of the guys over there were joking with me saying I was the reason we had to keep playing that game,” he said.