WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Hector Sanchez, with San Francisco down to its final strike, hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning Thursday to give the Giants a 4-3 win over Washington.
San Francisco avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the Nationals.
Rafael Soriano (2-3), who had saved 31 games in 35 opportunities prior to Thursday's outing, came on in the ninth and gave up a leadoff single to Buster Posey.
The next two batters were retired, but Roger Kieschnick drew a walk to bring up Sanchez as a pinch hitter.
Sanchez fell behind 0-2, then worked the count full before driving his first home run of the season out to right. It was the fifth game for Sanchez since coming off the disabled list. He had hit only three other home runs in his three-year career, all of them coming last season.
Javier Lopez (2-2) worked 1 2/3 innings of perfect relief to collect the victory. Sergio Romo retired the side in order in the ninth to collect his 29th save.
