SAN FRANCISCO – Travis d’Arnaud scored early and hit an RBI single in the 10th inning that had the Atlanta Braves defeating the San Francisco Giants 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Ramón Laureano also went deep and Austin Riley scored twice to lead Atlanta to their second straight victory over San Francisco in extra innings. The Braves beat the Giants 1-0 in 10 innings on d’Arnaud’s sacrifice fly in Monday’s series opener.
“If we’re going to make a push and do something, this is how things start to happen,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We did a lot of really good things tonight. Good victory for the team.”
Pinch runner Luke Williams started the 10th as the automatic runner at second base. With one out, d’Arnaud hit a grounder to the right side of the infield. The ball deflected off second baseman Brett Wisely’s glove and into right field.
“I was just trying to stay low and hit a ground ball,” d’Arnaud said. “Luckily he found a hole and that was it.”
In the bottom of the 10th, the Giants tried to walk their automatic runner to third, but Wisely was called for batter interference. LaMonte Wade Jr. and Heliot Ramos flew out to put an end to it.
Dylan Lee (4-2) retired three batters for the win and Raisel Iglesias pitched the 10th for his 25th save.
The Braves (63-56) extended their lead to two games over the New York Mets in the National League wild card final. The Giants (61-61) are 3 1/2 behind.
Tyler Fitzgerald was honored for San Francisco, which lost its third straight game after winning eight of 10.
“That’s three games in a row that we’ve lost in a row,” coach Bob Melvin said. “At home we’ve been really good at winning close games, so it’s frustrating.”
Trailing 3-2 in the eighth, the Giants rallied.
Wade doubled to Pierce Johnson leading off before Ramos hit a slow grounder toward third. Riley swung the ball and caught it, but it slipped out of his hand as he tried to make a throw. Wade later scored the tying run on a wild pitch.
Laureano hit a solo home run in the second. San Francisco starter Kyle Harrison also gave up a solo shot to d’Arnaud in the third, his 13th of the season.
Braves veteran Charlie Morton recovered from his worst start of the season and had eight strikeouts in six innings to reach 2,000 strikeouts for his career. Morton, who allowed eight runs and a career-high four home runs in 2 2/3 innings in his previous start, Aug. 8, against Milwaukee, gave up six hits and two runs for San Francisco.
The 40-year-old pitcher relished his milestone after being hampered by hip and elbow operations early in his career.
“I’m really grateful to experience a lot of what I have, considering the fact that I wasn’t even sure if I would get the ball to start after 2015,” Morton said. “Since (2016) I’ve been a bit of a different pitcher and that’s allowed me to pitch until I’m 40 and experience the moments I have.”
Harrison had six strikeouts and allowed three runs in five innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Braves: RHP Reynaldo López (forearm) began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett. … RHP Jimmy Herget was called up from Gwinnett. LHP Zach Logue was optioned to the minors.
Giants: INF Thairo Estrada (sprained left wrist) went 1 for 3 with an RBI in a rehab game with Triple-A Sacramento, but is still a few weeks away from being activated, according to Melvin.
NEXT
Giants LHP Robbie Ray (2-1, 3.98 ERA) faces Atlanta RHP Grant Holmes (0-0, 3.79) in the series finale on Wednesday. Holmes has allowed eight runs in his last two starts, matching the eight runs he has allowed in his first 11 games of the season.
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