Watch Metallica Perform National Anthem Before Giants/Mets Classic

Metallica and the San Francisco Giants celebrated the eighth annual 'Metallica Night Tuesday (May 24) during what turned out to be a thrilling evening of baseball, which the home team eventually won in walk-off fashion.

The night began with Metallica guitarists James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett hammering out a thunderous, dual electric-guitar version of the "Star-Spangled Banner," which bassist Robert Trujillo punctuated with the traditional "Play Ball!" announcement.

"It's a tradition that we've missed the last two seasons, we we're really excited for the return of Metallica Night at Oracle Park with our hometown baseball team, the San Francisco Giants," the band said in a statement when the 'Metallica Night' date was announced this past winter. "This marks the eighth time we'll take the field for the National Anthem, first pitch and a few other pre-game shenanigans."

You can watch video of the National Anthem performance via the player above.

While Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich formed Metallica in Los Angeles in 1981, it was in San Francisco that the band first gained a foothold in a local scene.

Metallica moved to San Francisco in 1982 at the urging of then-bassist Cliff Burton (a Casto Valley native) and has been headquartered in the Bay Area ever since.

Hetfield and Hammett have also performed the National Anthem at Golden State Warriors and San Jose Sharks games.

The game itself between the Giants and the New York Mets was a thriller. While the Giants held an 8 - 2 lead for most of the game, the Mets made an epic comeback late, taking the lead 11 - 8 after scoring 9 runs combined in the seventh and eighth innings.

Giants slugger Joc Pederson responded by tying the game at 11 in the bottom of the eighth with a three-run homerun. After the Mets recaptured the lead 12 - 11 in the top of the ninth, the Giants rallied once more with a pair of RBI singles — one from Pederson to tie the game and another from shortstop Brandon Crawford to win it 13 - 11.


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