How the Giants pulled off one of the most unusual walk-off wins imaginable

With the game tied 2-2 in the ninth inning, San Francisco Giants outfielder Heliot Ramos came to the plate on Sunday knowing one swing could send his team home with a victory.

Ramos delivered the Giants a walk-off win against Rangers reliever Luke Jackson, but the ending to the series finale was anything but ordinary.

Instead of launching a ball over the outfield fence and into the bleachers, Ramos tapped a pitch back toward Jackson and never stopped running as the Rangers committed a series of stunning miscues that led to one of the most chaotic finishes in the 26-year history of Oracle Park.

“I’ve never seen a game end like that,” Giants manager Bob Melvin told reporters at his postgame press conference.

After making soft contact with a breaking ball from Jackson, Ramos sprinted out of the batter’s box and up the first base line. Jackson raced off the mound to field the ball and made an ill-advised throw past Texas first baseman Jake Burger.

Jackson’s throw sailed so far into no-man’s land that Ramos had enough time to slow down as he pulled into second base and then speed back up when he saw third base coach Matt Williams waving him on.

An extra 90 feet would have put Ramos in position to score the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly, a single or a wild pitch, but he never had to wait at third base as Burger’s throw skipped past Josh Smith.

Ramos slid into third but immediately stood up and scampered to home plate where he dived headfirst to score one of the most unusual game-winning runs in the history of Oracle Park.

“I just wanted to get to first on that play,” Ramos told reporters postgame.

The unusual ending marked the Giants’ second consecutive walk-off win after Patrick Bailey punched a game-winning single through the right side of the infield to score Ramos on Saturday. It also conjured memories of Angel Pagan’s two-run, walk-off inside-the-park home run against the Rockies in May, 2013.

Ramos’ trip around the bases may also remind Giants fans of an infamous moment authored by Rubén Rivera in May, 2003 against the Diamondbacks. More than two decades ago, Rivera had the chance to score the game-winning run in a game that was also tied 2-2, but as Arizona’s fielders made a series of blunders, Rivera committed a handful of his own that were far worse.

As Rivera attempted to score from first base on a flyball that David Dellucci dropped in right field, the Giants player missed second base. After circling back to tag the base, Rivera would have easily been thrown out at third if not for another misplay by an Arizona fielder.

Like Ramos on Sunday, Rivera also took off toward the plate, but he was thrown out with ease on a play that led Giants broadcaster Jon Miller to utter the now iconic words: “That was the worst baserunning in the history of the game.”

Miller was on the broadcast again on Sunday and when Ramos came sliding into home, he was left in disbelief, but in an entirely different way.

“It’s a Little League home run,” Miller exclaimed.