BOSTON - The San Francisco Giants carried a 2-0 lead into the ninth inning at Fenway Park on Saturday night and left with their 10th loss in 13 games, falling 3-2 when a reviewed force play at the plate stood and the Boston Red Sox walked off.
According to the Associated Press and the ESPN box score, Eli White slid headfirst home on Wilyer Abreu's grounder to first. Umpire James Hoye called White safe. The Giants challenged; the call was upheld, and Boston celebrated a second time. The Giants fell to 52-77 (23-44 on the road). Boston improved to 70-59.
Willy Adames opened the scoring in the first with a solo home run over the Green Monster, his 21st of the season and a Statcast-projected 403-foot drive, MLB.com reported. Catcher Andrew Knizner added another solo shot onto the Monster in the third - his first major-league homer since June 2025 and the start of a 3-for-4 night, per NBC Sports Bay Area and MLB.com.
Tidwell's gem, then the late collapse
Rookie right-hander Blade Tidwell worked 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks with a career-high seven strikeouts on 93 pitches, MLB.com and the AP said. Manager Tony Vitello called the outing consistent from start to finish and praised how Tidwell manipulated his pitches as he worked through the order, the Giants' site reported.
Reliever Dylan Smith entered in the eighth with runners on and nobody out, allowed a single that loaded the bases, then struck out Abreu and Willson Contreras and got Adley Rutschman on a fly to deep center to keep the lead, NBC Sports Bay Area reported. Smith walked the ninth-inning leadoff batter.
Sam Hentges (1-6) took over and the rally followed: a hit batter, White's RBI single, Nick Sogard's RBI double off the Monster, and Abreu's decisive grounder. First baseman Bryce Eldridge made a diving stop and threw home; the throw pulled Knizner off the plate in Hoye's judgment, the AP and NBC Sports Bay Area wrote.
"Live, in real time, I thought he was still on," Vitello told the San Francisco Chronicle after what the paper counted as San Francisco's 11th walk-off loss of the season. Knizner, who caught Tidwell and Smith, told the Chronicle and MLB.com that plenty of good work would be overlooked because of the last play.
