The Giants got the win Friday night, but anybody holding San Francisco -1.5 walked away with a gut punch.
Rafael Devers ended it in the bottom of the 10th with a walk-off double against the Padres, giving the Giants a 7-6 victory. On the surface, it looked like the kind of finish that should have pushed the final to 8-6, especially with the bases loaded and a ball that bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double.
But the last run never counted.
Luis Arraez was the automatic runner on second, and after the lead runner crossed the plate to end the game, Arraez peeled off to celebrate instead of touching home. In baseball, that matters. A runner awarded home on a ground-rule double still has to actually step on the plate for the run to register.
So the Giants won 7-6, not 8-6, and the spread bettors took the hit.
It was the kind of finish that leaves one side celebrating and the other side staring at the box score in disbelief. The Giants, of course, won’t care. Devers got the walk-off, San Francisco got the victory, and the only real damage was to anyone who needed that extra run to cash.
There’s even a small statistical wrinkle for Devers, too, because the play is scored with that ground-rule-double quirk attached. But the bigger story was the bad beat - one of those bizarre endings that reminds bettors just how brutal baseball can be.
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