Giants left fielder Mike Tauchman remarkably reached over the wall to rob Albert Pujols of a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and San Francisco broke through in the 10th to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-5 in a thriller Friday night.
Dodgers pinch-hitter Austin Barnes hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth to make it 5-all. Pujols was up next and the recently signed slugger nearly won it.
Pujols lingered near the batter’s box when he connected and many of the Dodgers jumped the dugout rail in anticipation of a celebration, but Tauchman was equal to the challenge.
Tauchman angled back to the fence, jumped and made a sensational backhanded grab. He fell to the ground after knocking into the wall, raised his arm to show the ball and hobbled a bit on his way back to the dugout.
The Giants got Tauchman in late April in a trade with the New York Yankees, who liked his defensive ability yet had no room for him in an overcrowded outfield.
