SAN FRANCISCO — Freddy Sanchez hit a game-ending single with two outs in the 13th inning and the San Francisco Giants rallied from four runs down to beat the Washington Nationals 5-4 on Monday night.
Chris Stewart, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the 10th, drew a leadoff walk against Craig Stammen (0-1) to start the winning rally. After Stammen struck out pitcher Javier Lopez, Andres Torres singled to right. Miguel Tejada hit into a fielder’s choice to move Stewart to third before Sanchez lined a 1-1 pitch from Stammen down the line in right.
Lopez (3-1) retired all four batters he faced for the victory.
It’s the Giants’ eighth walkoff win this season, second most in the majors. San Francisco squandered scoring opportunities in the ninth and 10th.
Mike Morse homered for the second straight game, but Washington’s bullpen imploded and gave up all five San Francisco runs, in a game that saw Tim Lincecum record his 1,000th career strikeout.
Lincecum wasn’t sharp, however, and he left after five — eight innings before the game was decided.
Both teams missed chances to win the game before Sanchez delivered the seventh game-ending hit of his career and second this season. The 2006 NL batting champion also had a walkoff winner against Colorado on May 6.
The game lasted nearly 4 1/2 hours and ended at 11:44 p.m. local time.
Washington stranded a runner at second in the 11th and left the bases loaded in the 12th, and paid for it.
That wasted a solid effort by starter John Lannan, who allowed only two hits through the first six innings — Torres’ leadoff single in the first and a bunt by Tejada in the sixth. The Nationals’ left-hander, who lost to the Giants on April 30, extended his streak to 19 innings without allowing an earned run.
The streak ended when Aaron Rowand led off the seventh with his solo homer to left that trimmed San Francisco’s deficit to 4-1.
The game was delayed for about five minutes in the third inning when home plate umpire Gerry Davis was injured after getting hit by the mask of Washington catcher Ivan Rodriguez. Tejada hit a foul ball that deflected off Rodriguez’s mask and pushed it into Davis’ arm, opening a deep cut.
Davis received treatment in the Giants dugout and returned but left again in the bottom of the fifth. Third base umpire Todd Tichenor replaced Davis behind the plate, and the game continued with three umpires.
It wasn’t a much better night for Lincecum.
San Francisco’s two-time NL Cy Young Award winner struck out the side in the first before giving up a homer to Morse leading off the second. Lincecum came back to fan Danny Espinosa and Jerry Hairston to reach the strikeout mark, becoming just the eighth pitcher since 1900 to reach the milestone in his first five seasons.
But Lincecum lasted only five innings and had five strikeouts with three walks. It’s the shortest outing by the San Francisco ace since he left after just 3 2/3 innings against San Diego on Aug. 15, 2010.
Morse, who hit his second career grand slam of the season in Sunday’s 11-inning win over Arizona, got to Lincecum again with a two-run double in the third to make it 4-0. Morse, a former prospect with Seattle now prospering in Washington, continued his torrid pace and is now batting .375 with six doubles, eight home runs and 24 RBIs in 28 games since May 1.
The Giants scored three times in the eighth after Lannan departed. They missed a chance to win it in the ninth after Andres Torres drew a leadoff walk, was sacrificed to second and stole third. Rodriguez, who gave up Schierholtz’s game-tying pinch-hit single in the eighth, got Cody Ross to hit a grounder and shortstop Ian Desmond threw Torres out at home. Rodriguez retired Huff to end the inning.
San Francisco put two runners on in the 10th against Cole Kimball but again failed to score.