Sedona Red Recap: De La Rosa returns as Diamondbacks lose marathon to Giants

PHOENIX — In honor of Coyotes Night at Chase Field, Shane Doan threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Friday.

Five hours and 23 short minutes later, San Francisco Giants reliever Javier Lopez threw the last pitch.

Brandon Belt homered and Hunter Pence crossed the plate four times as San Francisco ousted Arizona by a final of 7-6 in 12 innings. A total of 26,492 fans were on hand at Chase Field, though at least a few of them left before the conclusion.

It was the Diamondbacks’ first home game since August 28, so they made sure the fans got their money’s worth.

Rubby De La Rosa made his first start since May 27, but was on a pitch count as he works his way back from an elbow injury. To get through the rest of the night, Arizona had to use a franchise record 12 pitchers.

That means Archie Bradley will likely need to eat some innings on Saturday, when these two teams face off again.

With the loss, Arizona is now 58-82 overall, and 25-44 at home in 2016.

THE BAD

-A.J. Pollock exited after just one inning of play, due to an injured left groin. He nearly homered in the first, driving the ball to the deepest part of the park in left center. But he pulled up limping midway between first and second base, and was immediately lifted from the game.

-Chris Herrmann also left early, after breaking two bones in his left hand while sliding into second base.

-The Giants manufactured the first run of the game by loading the bases without even getting the ball out of the infield. Hunter Pence hit a slow roller right down the third base line that managed to stay fair, then Brandon Belt and Joe Panik each drew walks. Eduardo Nunez finally did put one into the outfield at that point, driving one to right for a sacrifice fly.

-This game was nearly decided by a run that scored on a wild pitch in the 10th. That would have been the very definition of “bad.”

-Welington Castillo got tossed for arguing balls and strikes in the 12th inning. His first career ejection.

THE GOOD

-Brandon Drury’s homer in the second was his 11th of the season.

-Yasmany Tomas made a nice running backhand grab in shallow right to close out the Giants’ half of the fourth inning.

-Tomas also delivered a pair of hits and is now batting .322 over his last 15 home games.

-With two more hits tonight, Chris Owings is now batting .429 in his last 10 games.

-Jean Segura made a slick play with no outs and the bases loaded for San Francisco in the 10th, fielding a chopper and firing home to prevent the go-ahead run from scoring.

-Counting his 10th inning homer, Jake Lamb is now 4-for-8 lifetime against Santiago Casilla, and all four hits have left the yard.

STATS OF THE GAME

12: Number of pitchers used by Arizona in this game. That’s a franchise record, and only one short of the Major League record.

26: Number of players used by the Diamondbacks in this game. That’s a franchise record too.

0: Number of Major League hits Kyle Jensen had in his career before his third inning homerun. One hit, one homer. Not bad.

HE SAID IT

“That’s a ball. I cannot swing at that pitch, you know… I think that’s a ball. And I just said I think that’s a ball – I can’t swing at that pitch” – Welington Castillo, on getting ejected for the first time in his career.

NOTED

-Herrmann was originally called out to end the seventh inning while attempting to steal second base. But the D-backs challenged the ruling and, upon further review, he was deemed safe. Three pitches later, Socrates Brito – pinch-running for Herrmann – scored on an error in center field to tie the game at 5-5.

-To celebrate the Arizona Coyotes’ 20th season in the desert, Shane Doan and Mike Smith took batting practice before the game.

UP NEXT

These two teams will square off again Saturday night at Chase Field. Archie Bradley gets the nod for Arizona, while San Francisco counters with Johnny Cueto. First pitch is set for 5:10, with pregame coverage beginning at 4:30 on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

Bradley (6-8) is 2-0 with a 3.71 ERA in his last three starts. He’s picked up a win and a quality start in each of his last two outings, including his most recent contest, in which he scattered two runs over six innings in a win over the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 4.

Cueto (14-5) is enjoying a phenomenal season for the Giants. His 14 wins have him tied for fifth among all National League pitchers, and his 2.92 ERA ranks him ninth. He shut down the Cubs in his last start, yielding just one run over seven innings on Sept. 4. He didn’t factor into the decision though, as San Francisco still lost that one by a final of 3-2.

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