Subscribe
Follow Us
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park, Heliot Ramos delivered a finish straight out of a youth baseball fever dream — into the San Francisco Giants' record books. In a jaw-dropping 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers, Ramos led off the bottom of the ninth with what looked like a routine infield single. Instead, two throwing errors later, he was diving across home plate to score a walk-off “Little League home run” that sent the sellout crowd into a frenzy.
“I blacked out for a minute and then saw the guys waving and waving, and I just went,” Ramos said, still smiling after the chaos.
The win marked the Giants’ fifth walk-off victory of the season, their most ever in the month of April, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com. They hadn’t posted five walk-offs in a calendar month since May 2013. It also kept San Francisco (19-10) atop the tight National League West.
Ramos' mad dash began when he chopped a first-pitch slider from Rangers reliever Luke Jackson just a couple of feet toward third. Jackson rushed a barehanded throw past first baseman Jake Burger, allowing Ramos to reach second easily. Thinking the play was over, Ramos slowed up — until he saw third-base coach Matt Williams wildly waving him on.
Giants make history on Sunday with another walk-off
“I thought he had the ball already, and then I saw Matt waving me in, and I just kept going,” Ramos said.
Burger’s hurried throw to third was also off the mark, skipping past Josh Smith and down the left-field line. Ramos, picking up speed again, dove headfirst across home to seal the improbable win.
Giants manager Bob Melvin, who admitted he had “never seen a game end like that before,” praised Ramos' instinct even after the initial hesitation. “Sometimes things happen for a reason, and the theatrics were pretty cool there at the end,” Melvin said.
Teammates couldn’t help but laugh about it afterward, with Ramos joking that the sequence would definitely be replayed during their next hitters’ meeting for comedic effect. LaMonte Wade Jr., who was on deck for the at-bat, said, “I just thought something was wrong with him because he wasn’t running. But when he slid into home, it was pretty funny. Big win.”
The win capped an impressive 17-game stretch without an off-day for the Giants, during which they went 10-7 against some of MLB's toughest teams. With Monday finally bringing a much-needed day off, San Francisco can breathe easy knowing they’re not just winning — they’re doing it with flair.
“If we hang around long enough, we find a way to win a game,” Melvin said. Right now, the Giants are finding ways no one could have predicted — even on Little League Day.
