SAN FRANCISCO -- Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey executed his first major roster shakeup on Wednesday, making a flurry of moves to try to breathe life into an offense that had looked listless for weeks.
He cut ties with struggling veteran LaMonte Wade Jr. and brought in three new faces -- first baseman Dominic Smith, outfielder Daniel Johnson and catcher Andrew Knizner -- which he hoped would signal the need for an urgent turnaround at the plate.
“It’s time to go,” Posey said. “We all believe that we’re better than what we’ve done with the bat for the last two-and-a-half, three weeks. It’s time to go.”
Message received.
Down by five runs, the Giants rallied for a stirring 6-5 comeback win over the division rival Padres at Oracle Park, marking the first time they’ve scored more than four runs in a single game since May 16.
The victory snapped the Giants’ seven-game losing streak against the Padres, which had dated back to Sept. 13, 2024.
“We could have very easily been down 5-0 there, and with the way things have been going, rolled over and not found a way to come back in that game,” third baseman Matt Chapman said. “But we kept grinding. We kept battling. I think that’s how you get out of these kinds of stretches. You find ways to win. I think we can build off of this game tonight and try to find some momentum and carry it into tomorrow.”
Johnson, a Vallejo native, went 2-for-4 in his Giants debut and helped put San Francisco on the board in the fifth inning, when he singled, stole second base and scored on a double by Patrick Bailey. Johnson also ranged deep into the right-center-field gap to rob Luis Arraez of extra bases in the top of the ninth, capping an impressive all-around performance that happened to come with about eight friends and family members in the stands.
“Honestly, it’s a blessing,” Johnson said. “I’m speechless. I just enjoyed every moment of it.”
Chapman cut the deficit to 5-3 with a two-run home run off Padres right-hander Nick Pivetta in the sixth before the Giants took their first lead of the night with a three-run rally in the seventh.
Willy Adames drew a leadoff walk and Johnson and Tyler Fitzgerald each singled to load the bases with one out for Heliot Ramos, who tied the game with a two-run double to left field. A fired-up Ramos pounded his chest and roared toward the Giants’ dugout after reaching second base, electrifying the 34,821 fans in attendance. Jung Hoo Lee then followed with a sacrifice fly to put the Giants ahead, 6-5.
“That’s as loud as we’ve heard [the fans] all year,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said of the reaction to Ramos’ double. “It’s pretty inspiring when we haven’t scored any runs and you’re down 5-0 to one of the better pitchers in the National League. Now we get into a situation where we have a chance. It was pretty loud. Big hit, big response by the crowd.”
Left-hander Kyle Harrison didn’t factor into the decision after giving up a season-high five runs on nine hits over 4 1/3 innings in his fourth start since moving into the rotation to fill in for the injured Justin Verlander. Harrison surrendered a two-out, two-run triple to Gavin Sheets in the first inning and then was chased after allowing the Padres to plate three more runs in the fifth.
Harrison caught a little bit of a bad break in his final inning, as he took a 95.3 mph comebacker from Sheets off his left elbow, which ricocheted into right field for a two-run single that extended the Padres’ lead to 5-0. Harrison had thrown 87 pitches at that point, so the Giants decided to remove him from the game and bring in Sean Hjelle, who worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings to give the club’s bats a chance to rally.
With closer Camilo Doval unavailable, the Giants turned to Ryan Walker in the top of the ninth, though the Padres quickly put the potential tying run on board after Fernando Tatis Jr. reached on a leadoff single. Walker retired Arraez thanks to Johnson’s tremendous catch, though Manny Machado ended up reaching on another single after Ramos and Adames collided while attempting to converge on the ball in shallow left field.
Melvin opted to lift Walker in favor of Randy Rodríguez, who struck out Jackson Merrill swinging on three consecutive sliders and then coaxed a popout from Sheets to record his first career save.
“That was a huge win,” Harrison said. “We’re all happy here.”