Craig Kimbrel back on the mound for the Braves, but streak hits five losses

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tyler Fitzgerald scored on a wild pitch by Pierce Johnson with two outs in the 10th inning, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Braves 5-4 on Friday night for the Braves’ fifth consecutive loss.

After getting picked off first to end the ninth, Fitzgerald began the 10th on second base. He advanced to third on a one-groundout and then scored when Johnson (1-2) threw a 1-2 pitch to the backstop.

Spencer Bivens (2-2) came on with the bases loaded in the 10th, and got Luke Williams on a groundout to end the inning for the win.

Craig Kimbrel, the Braves’ career leader in saves, made his first appearance for the Braves since the 2014 season when he entered the game in the seventh. He allowed a leadoff single to Heliot Ramos, but was bailed out when Sean Murphy threw out Ramos trying to steal second to keep the score tied at 4-4.

Kimbrel then walked Jung Hoo Lee, but picked him off first and then struck out Wilmer Flores to get out of the inning.

The Giants’ struggling offense produced three runs in the first with help from two errors by the Braves and a run-scoring wild pitch thrown by Spencer Schwellenbach.

San Francisco led 4-2 before the Braves tied the score in the seventh when Matt Olson hit a two-run homer off reliever Ryan Walker.

Key moment

There was an odd moment in the fourth inning when Murphy hit a sacrifice fly to right with the bases loaded for the Braves. Olson easily beat the throw by Mike Yastrzemski, but there was confusion because a ball had been thrown on the field by a fan in the stands. The umpires huddled to discuss it, but let the play stand.

“That’s a first,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said after the game. “I’ve never seen that before. I don’t know where it came from. I don’t know what the rule is. I think everybody was a little surprised by it. It didn’t affect the play, but it was extremely odd to see another baseball come on the field.”