WASHINGTON -- The Giants’ bullpen bent but didn’t break on Saturday night.
The Nationals threatened after Jorbit Vivas led off with a double and advanced to third on a flyout from Drew Millas. That brought up James Wood, who got ahead, 2-0, before the Giants decided to intentionally walk him to put runners on the corners with one out.
Curtis Mead followed with a grounder to the left side that was fielded by Chapman, who threw to catcher Patrick Bailey to nab Vivas at home and keep the Giants’ slim lead intact.\n\nStill, Walker couldn’t finish it off after surrendering a game-tying, two-strike bloop single to Brady House. Center fielder Drew Gilbert threw out Mead at third on the play, but replay review confirmed that Wood crossed home plate before the third out was recorded, sending the game into extras.\n\n“He’s a guy that we trust in those situations,” Vitello said of Walker. “He’s one pitch away. Brady did a good job of staying to that pitch. He looked uncomfortable the first two pitches. The pitch was way down, but it was just too much over the plate. I’m sure if Walk could go back in time and redo that one, he would.”\n\nWalker returned to the mound in the bottom of the 10th after the Giants couldn’t score their automatic runner in the top half of the inning, though he was again tested after intentionally walking CJ Abrams and giving up an infield single to Jacob Young that deflected off his glove, which loaded the bases with no outs. Walker managed to bear down, though, striking out Daylen Lile and Nasim Nuñez before inducing an inning-ending groundout from Vivas.
The final play was an adventure, as Adames fielded Vivas’ grounder up the middle and initially tried to get the forceout at second. A hustling Young beat him to the bag, but Adames managed to stay composed and throw to first to get the out he needed.\n\n“When he made the first read to go to second base, I thought it was the right call,” Chapman said. “That guy was just hauling to second base. Great baserunning by him. And then for Willy to be savvy enough to just finish the play, knowing he could get an out at either base -- great play by him. That was huge.”\n\nWalker was frustrated after suffering his first blown save of the year, but he took solace in his ability to hold the line in a tight spot in the 10th.\n\n“A lot of it just shows the work I put in the offseason mentally,” Walker said. “I just had an extra fire to go out there. Obviously, I didn’t get the job done in the ninth. I was determined to get the job done in the 10th so we could keep going. That was just my mindset.”
Both teams traded zeros in the 11th, but the Giants regained the lead on Chapman’s RBI single off left-hander Cionel Pérez in the 12th. Right-hander