SAN FRANCISCO — Second baseman Jace Peterson capped a four-run, ninth-inning rally with a bases-clearing triple Sunday, lifting the Atlanta Braves to a 7-5 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
In winning their second in a row to earn a 2-2 split in the four-game series, the Braves overcame a 5-3 deficit in the ninth against Giants closer Santiago Casilla with the help of an error on shortstop Brandon Crawford on what could have been the final play of the game.
After Casilla began the ninth by getting Braves third baseman Juan Uribe to ground out, first baseman Freddie Freeman got Atlanta within one with a solo home run, his seventh of the season. Freeman entered the game as a defensive replacement two innings earlier.
Shortstop Andrelton Simmons followed with a walk, but Casilla then got catcher Christian Bethancourt to hit what appeared to be a game-ending, double-play grounder. However, Crawford booted the routine play, keeping the Braves alive with just one out.
Pinch hitter A.J. Pierzynski blooped a single to right to load the bases before Peterson, a left-handed hitter, lined a triple to left-center to score three runs and put the Braves on top 7-5.
Right-hander Jason Grilli, the fourth Atlanta pitcher, retired three of the four Giants he faced in the ninth for his 15th save.
Right-hander Nick Masset (1-1) got the win after pitching 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Casilla (4-1) took the loss when blowing a save for the third time in 18 chances.
First baseman Brandon Belt, Crawford and second baseman Joe Panik all homered for the Giants, who finished May with a National League-best 21-9 record.
Panik’s homer, a two-run shot in a three-run seventh inning, gave the Giants a two-run lead after the Braves went ahead 3-2 in the top of the inning on Uribe’s two-run homer off Giants starter Madison Bumgarner.
Going for his fifth win in the month of May, Bumgarner held the Braves to one run on two hits before walking left fielder Jonny Gomes with one out in the seventh. Uribe, a former Giant, followed with his second homer in two days, the 28th of his career at AT&T Park, to give Atlanta a brief 3-2 lead.
Bumgarner was charged with three runs on five hits in his 6 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out six.
The home runs by Belt and Crawford, the seventh for each player, came in a six-pitch sequence opening the second inning. The back-to-back homers were the Giants’ second of the season.
Atlanta starter Julio Teheran allowed only one other hit through six innings before surrendering the rally-starting double to Duffy in the seventh. He wound up charged with three runs on four hits in his six-plus innings, walking four and striking out one.
Belt went 2-for-3 against Teheran, improving his career batting average against the right-hander to .583 (7-for-12).
Panik, who doubled in the ninth, also had two hits for the Giants.
Uribe’s homer was the second of his career against Bumgarner.
Peterson and starting first baseman Chris Johnson had two hits for the Braves, who out-hit the Giants 9-7.
NOTES: Braves 1B Freddie Freeman was not in the starting lineup, snapping a string of 217 consecutive starts that began on Sept. 24, 2013, and was the longest in the majors. Contributing to the decision: The left-handed-hitting Freeman had a .227 career batting average against the Giants’ starting pitcher, LHP Madison Bumgarner. … Braves LF Jonny Gomes made his first start of the series. The San Francisco Bay Area native wore blue and gold socks under his uniform in tribute to the Golden State Warriors, who are headed to the NBA Finals. … The Braves move on to Arizona, where LHP Alex Wood will take on the Diamondbacks on Monday. The Giants will host the Pittsburgh Pirates and their seven-game winner, RHP Gerrit Cole, on Monday.