Victor Robles plays for the Washington Nationals, but he had a big role in the Giants’ 2-1 extra innings win in the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday at Nationals Park.
After the Giants broke the seal on the scoreboard with two runs in the top of the eighth inning, the Nationals were threatening to sweep the twin-bill.
Starlin Castro doubled to score Yan Gomes, who started the inning on second base, and Robles was plunked on the shoulder by Giants reliever Caleb Barager. With runners on first and second and no one out, Josh Bell lofted a fly ball to center field.
Castro tagged and went to third base. Austin Slater, who pinch-hit for Steven Duggar in the seventh, threw the ball back into second base. Robles very easily could have — and likely should have — stayed at first base.
Instead, the speedy Robles tried to tag up as well and he would have made it had he not tried to get around Donovan Solano’s tag.
Robles over-slid second base and eventually was tagged out by Solano when he tried to advance to third base. Castro stayed put at third, meaning Robles had no choice but to concede and return to the dugout.
Instead of runners on the corners with one out, the Nationals had to settle for a runner on third with two outs. Barager got Trea Turner to pop out to second base to end the game. If Robles had stayed at first base — or made it safely to second base — Juan Soto would have gotten a chance to tie or win the game.
Instead, the Giants escaped with their 40th win of the season and a split of the doubleheader.
“It was a pretty good break,” manager Gabe Kapler told reporters after the win. “Yeah, not sure we win the game [without it]. Baserunning is hard at the major league level, mistakes happen and I never want to point out anything that another player on another team does because we’ve made some boneheaded mistakes on the bases as well. But obviously I’m not sure we win that game if that mistake isn’t made.”
RELATED: Takeaways from Giants’ loss in opener of doubleheader
Considering how badly the Giants are struggling on offense during this series, they will take the win anyway they can, even if an opposing player had as much to do with their win as they did.
