J.D Davis’ walk-off home run gives SF Giants dramatic victory over Red Sox

SAN FRANCISCO – JD Davis needed just one pitch to hit his 14th home run of the season, walk off the Boston Red Sox, and tie the series with a 3-2 victory.

He belted the first pitch he saw from Kenley Jansen over the left field wall, electrifying a Giants crowd that a few moments earlier had sat stunned after the visitors rallied to tie the game.

San Francisco had gotten scoreless performances from Ryan Walker, Sean Manaea and Tyler Rogers against the Red Sox.

All the Giants needed was for their All-Star closer Camilo Doval to notch his 32nd save of the season while leading 2-0.

Instead, longtime Giants nemesis Justin Turner drove in two runs, tied the game, and sent it into extra innings, setting the stage for Davis.

The Giants at one point appeared headed for a stress-free victory.

The undefeated rookie Ryan Walker (3-0) took the mound as the Giants’ opener, and he cruised through 2 2-3 scoreless innings in which he struck out three and allowed just one hit.

The Giants then turned to Manaea, whose last appearance was a  5 ⅔ inning appearance out of the bullpen a week prior.

The 31-year-old followed up that extended action with another 4 2-3 innings of scoreless work with five strikeouts.

The top of the order didn’t take long to do damage against Boston starter James Paxton, with Wilmer Flores driving leadoff hitter Austin Slater in from first on a double into deep right field. Flores went 3 for 5.

The Giants had several opportunities to expand their lead, but failed to deliver that critical hit for much of the game. San Francisco had 11 hits to Boston’s five.

Starting at shortstop, rookie Marco Luciano made it two straight games with a hit, going 2 for 3 with a single and double in front of 37,470 fans.  A few batters later, Luciano scored the game’s second run on Slater’s 17th RBI of the season.

After Doval’s ninth-inning hiccup, the Giants (57-48) handed the Red Sox (56-48) a rare loss (56-48). Boston entered the game on a five-game winning streak and victors in 16 of its last 21.

The teams will play again on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.