Slater's mammoth homer saves Giants in win vs. D-backs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
The Giants were on the verge of a disastrous loss in the desert Saturday, but Austin Slater saved the day with one huge swing of the bat.
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Slater's mammoth two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning propelled the Giants to a 6-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
But for a few innings, it looked like the Giants might blow an early 4-0 lead to the D-backs.
After the Giants scored four runs in the third inning, highlighted by a two-run homer from Mike Yastrzemski, starter Sammy Long proceeded to give up two runs in the bottom of the third and two more in the fourth.
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Aided by a LaMonte Wade Jr. fielding error, the D-backs scored an unearned run off Zack Littell in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 5-4 lead.
With the Los Angeles Dodgers winning in Washington D.C. earlier in the day, the Giants would have slipped into second place in the NL West with a loss.
Slater, who entered earlier in the game as a pinch-hitter, wasn't having it.
Slater came into Saturday's game mired in a 4-for-38 slump since the beginning of June, and following his first two at-bats against the D-backs, he had no hits in his last 16 at-bats.
The one swing will make him feel better.
"Right there, I was trying to battle," Slater said on "Giants Postgame Live" on NBC Sports Bay Area moments after the win. "Got something hanging that I could put a good swing on and, you know, I've been grinding, working my ass off in the cage and just haven't seen the results on the field. But it was great to see that pay off a little bit tonight and hopefully keep it going.
The initial estimate was an eye-popping 482-feet on the homer, but Statcast later revised the distance to 463 feet.
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Either way, it was a gigantic blast for the Giants at the best possible time and it will keep the Giants atop the division for another night.
When the Giants wake up on the Fourth of July, they still will be in first place, something no one could have predicted before the season.
The Giants can thank Slater for that.
