Santander’s shot off Ryan Walker (9-4) came after Casey Schmitt tied the game at 3-all with a single off Seranthony Domínguez in the top of the ninth.

For a moment, all was forgotten. It didn’t matter that the Orioles had recently lost nine of their past 12 games as the postseason approached, or that their closer had blown a save or that their center fielder had just been shaken up after a scary collision.

Mike Yastrzemski homered on the game’s first pitch, Michael Conforto also hit a solo shot and the San Francisco Giants beat the sinking Baltimore Orioles 5-3.