San Francisco Giants' Daniel Johnson (56) hits a single against the San Diego Padres in the fifth inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
SAN FRANCISCO — Heliot Ramos stood proudly on second base, pounding his chest. He roared at his dugout; his dugout roared right back. So did the thousands in attendance at Oracle Park, a pack of anxious fans desperate for a night like tonight.
Ramos delivered one of the most momentous swings in two weeks, a double that one-hopped the left-field wall that tied the game at five and erased a five-run deficit. Scoring one of those runs was Daniel Johnson, one of three new arrivals on Wednesday as Buster Posey executed his first roster shakeup. Posey sent a message, and that message was received.
Led by Johnson, Ramos and plenty others, the Giants responded to this morning’s flurry of roster moves by erasing a five-run deficit against the San Diego Padres to beat their divisional rival, 6-5. The 16-game streak of failing to score more than four runs in a single game is over. If for but a night, Johnson and Ramos helped bring those early-season vibes back to China Basin.
“The energy was crazy,” Johnson said. “It was electric in there. Those are the moments you live for right there.”
“That’s as loud as we’ve heard them all year,” said manager Bob Melvin.
There was no shortage of contributors as the Giants erased a 5-0 deficit and beat the Padres for the first time this year. Ramos tied the game with the double. Jung Hoo Lee drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly. Matt Chapman hit a two-run shot for his 11th homer. Sean Hjelle pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief after Kyle Harrison allowed five runs.
As for Johnson? He did a little of everything.
A graduate of Jesse Bethel High School in Vallejo, Johnson not only filled up the box score — two hits, two runs, a steal — but preserved the Giants’ lead in the ninth by tracking down Luis Arraez’s drive to right-center field to prevent the tying run from scoring. Dominic Smith, who signed a major-league deal to join the team, went hitless in his first game but made a nice play on a line drive by Arraez.
“He went a long way for that ball,” Melvin said. “That was huge at the time. Had a couple hits and just looked like he was pretty comfortable out there. I thought Dom had some good at-bats too even though he (was hitless). A little different look today and next thing you know, you look up and we have six runs.”
The catharsis of Ramos’ two-run double was made possible by the frustration of falling into a five-run lead. Harrison pitched well in his first two starts (two runs, nine innings) but allowed a pair of runs in the first, then three more in the fifth.
Harrison’s final pitch of the night went to Gavin Sheets, who hit a grounder that deflected off Harrison’s left elbow and rolled into right field for a two-run single. Manager Bob Melvin was going to take Harrison out of the ballgame anyhow, but Harrison walked off the field alongside trainer Dave Groeschner. He would be diagnosed with a left elbow contusion, and the team will see if he can make his next start.
Given San Francisco’s recent struggles, San Diego was in position to cruise to a win. Down five, the Giants started chipping away.
Johnson helped manufacture the Giants’ first run in the fifth by singling, stealing second, then scoring on Patrick Bailey’s double to trim the deficit to 5-1. Chapman cut the deficit to 5-3 the following inning with a two-run shot that barely cleared the left-field fence. In the seventh, San Francisco landed its decisive blow.
The Giants led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk from Willy Adames and a single by Johnson, the latter knocking the Padres’ Nick Pivetta out of the game and prompting manager Mike Shildt to go to reliever Jason Adam. A one-out single by Tyler Fitzgerald against Adam then loaded the bases for Ramos.
Over the last 16 games, the Giants consistently wasted these types of opportunities. Tonight, the offense delivered. Ramos drove in two with a double to tie the game at five, then Lee scored Fitzgerald with a sacrifice fly to give the Giants a 6-5 lead they’d never lose. But in the ninth, the Padres nearly played spoiler for a second straight night.
With Camilo Doval unavailable after blowing last night’s save, Melvin assigned former closer Ryan Walker the final frame. Fernando Tatis Jr. led off the inning with a single, then Arraez followed up by launching a deep drive to Triples Alley. Johnson, playing his first career game at Oracle Park, burst into a dead sprint, extended his right arm and tracked it down. Tatis, who had the speed to score, retreated to first.
“It’s a different baseball game if he doesn’t make that play,” Chapman said of Johnson. “It’s huge for us. Getting energy from new guys like that is always big.”
Following Johnson’s catch, Manny Machado gave the Padres runners on first and second with a one-out single when Ramos and Adames converged on a shallow fly ball and nearly collided. The tying run on second, Melvin went to Randy Rodríguez for the night’s final two outs. Rodríguez, as he is wont to do, shut the door.
Tatis and Machado pulled off a double steal to put runner on second and third, but Rodríguez cooly struck out Jackson Merrill swinging and got Sheets to hit into a game-ending pop out. In putting out the fire, Rodríguez earned the first save of his career and lowered his ERA to 0.66, further bolstering his case for an All-Star selection.
“We could have 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,” Chapman said. “But we kept grinding and kept battling. I think that’s how you get out of these kind of stretches. You find ways to win, and I think we can build off this game tonight and try to find some momentum and carry it into tomorrow.”
Originally published at Justice delos Santos
