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Fitzgerald found himself wanting Richards to “please throw a dirt ball.�

“Anything in the dirt I was going to try,� said Fitzgerald, who is getting a chance at shortstop. “I guess I spoke it into existence.�

Manager Bob Melvin praised his players for sticking with it through some tough at-bats in the ninth.

“You don't get too many walkoffs in that fashion, but it was a relentlessness in the last inning,� he said.

Yusei Kikuchi struck out a career-high 13 pitching into the eighth inning and Ernie Clement's three-run homer in the seventh put the Blue Jays in good position — denying Blake Snell a chance at his first victory of the year.

Clement connected off Ryan Walker, who allowed a one-out walk to Danny Jansen and pinch-hitter Spencer Horwitz's double before Clement's drive.

Snell, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner who signed a $62 million, two-year contract in March, came off the injured list from a left groin strain that sidelined him since June 3 and battled with fellow lefty Kikuchi.

Kikuchi's winless stretch reached five starts during which he is 0-3 since a victory at Milwaukee on June 11. He struck out the side in order in the second and had six Ks over his initial three innings before Heliot Ramos — the Giants’ first homegrown All-Star since Chili Davis in 1986 — homered leading off the fourth to put San Francisco ahead.

Kikuchi topped his 12 strikeouts on July 23, 2021, against Oakland and this was his first with double-digit Ks since.

Fitzgerald connected to start the bottom of the eighth for San Francisco.

While he's still 0-3, Snell is encouraged with his progress. He allowed only a second-inning single to Davis Schneider, struck out three and walked three over a season-high five innings.

“Just find a rhythm, trust my stuff, trust my body, better, just more confidence knowing that I'm able to repeat is significant,� Snell said.

The Blue Jays are visiting this side of San Francisco Bay to play the Giants for the first time since splitting a two-game set May 14-15, 2019.

Toronto took two of three at home from the Giants in June 2023, surrendering just five runs.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Blue Jays: 3B Isiah Kiner-Falefa has begun testing his sprained left knee with some baseball activity and did some light running and throwing. … RHP Yimi García (nerve inflammation in pitching elbow) experienced a stiff neck and had his rehab outing with triple-A Buffalo pushed back a day to Wednesday.

Giants: INFs Thairo Estrada and Wilmer Flores also were activated from the IL. Estrada — who led off as designated hitter — missed nine games with a sprained left wrist, while Flores also sat out nine contests because of tendinitis in his right knee.

UP NEXT

Former Oakland RHP Chris Bassitt (7-7, 3.43 ERA) pitches back in the Bay Area for the Blue Jays opposite Giants All-Star RHP Logan Webb (7-6, 3.09).

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AP MLB: