SAN FRANCISCO — Joe Panik doubled off the wall in right-center field to drive in Brandon Crawford with the winning run in the 13th inning, as the San Francisco Giants staved off elimination yet again by outlasting the Chicago Cubs, 6-5, at the AT&T Park on Tuesday.
San Francisco won its 10th straight game when facing postseason elimination and also made it 2-1 in their NLDS against the Chicago Cubs, avoiding a sweep.
Panik came through against Mike Montgomery, who was pitching his fifth inning of relief.
"There's a sense of calmness," Panik said. "It's like we've been there before."
The tough-to-eliminate Giants forced Tuesday night's Game 4 back at their raucous, sold-out ballpark, postponing a potential Cubs clinch party. Chicago will send John Lackey to the mound opposite lefty Matt Moore.
Panik's big hit ended a 5-hour, 4-minute game that was only 29 minutes shy of the total time taken to play the first two series games combined last week at Wrigley Field.
"We played it hard, we played it right — and they beat us," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said.
Rookie left-hander Ty Blach was the winner, escaping a 13th-inning jam when pinch-hitter David Ross bounced into a double play.
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