Diamondbacks pitching knocked around by Giants as win streak remains elusive

SAN FRANCISCO — The Arizona Diamondbacks just can’t seem to string these wins together right now.

On Tuesday night in San Francisco, D-backs starter Brandon Pfaadt lasted only four innings, while the bullpen let in six runs in a 10-6 loss to the Giants.

The offense quieted down after a first-inning barrage and had to play catch-up.

The Diamondbacks (22-21) won the opener on Monday but have not captured consecutive wins since April 30-May 1 against the New York Mets. In other words, they have yet to win even two games in a row played in the month of May.

“We gotta find a way to make it all sync up,” manager Torey Lovullo said.

Corbin Carroll and Josh Naylor each homered in Tuesday’s loss.

Brandon Pfaadt’s shortest start

Pfaadt needed to grind through some long at-bats on Tuesday, as he said it felt like he was in three-ball counts all game. Having faced 21 batters, he threw more than 4.5 pitches per plate appearance and finished with 95 pitches.

The Giants did all their damage off him on one swing in the second inning, as rookie second baseman Christian Koss hit a grand slam for his first career MLB home run.

Pfaadt walked two of the batters on base for Koss’ blast, which he golfed out to left field on a sinker below the zone.

“ I think our command was off from pitch one,” Pfaadt said. “When the offense comes out like that, that’s go time for us. It’s go time to get ahead and have quick innings and keep the momentum on our side.”

The right-hander said the pitch to Koss was well executed, but he put himself in harm’s way before then. This was Pfaadt’s shortest outing since he lasted 2.2 innings on Sept. 22, 2024, also against the Giants.

Giants starter Robbie Ray — facing his former team for the first time — settled in after he allowed three runs on five hits in the first inning.

Carroll, Randal Grichuk, Eugenio Suarez and Naylor racked up consecutive knocks to start what looked like a promising night for the offense.

Ray only allowed two hits from innings 2-6, however, and struck out a season-high nine batters. Ray played for the D-backs from 2015-20 and has now faced all 30 clubs.

The Diamondbacks’ lower-leverage arms were brutal, once again.

Juan Morillo allowed three runs in the fifth inning — including a Willy Adames two-run shot — while Joe Mantiply gave up a three-run home run to Jung Hoo Lee in the eighth.

Mantiply has allowed earned runs in each of his last six appearances in the majors and home runs in three straight.

Overall, the D-backs allowed 10 runs on 13 hits with six walks, and four runners who reached base on balls scored.

Corbin Carroll leads MLB in home runs

The D-backs did not score again until the seventh inning, when Carroll hit his third home run of the series on a shot to left-center field off lefty Kyle Harrison.

Carroll homered twice in Monday’s 2-1 victory, and with 14 he now shares the league lead with Aaron Judge and Kyle Schwarber.

Corbin Carroll pulls into a tie for the Major League home run lead with No. 14 💥 pic.twitter.com/AUIdXW3wvR

— MLB (@MLB) May 14, 2025

Jordan Lawlar’s debut

Top prospect Jordan Lawlar made his highly anticipated season debut and first MLB appearance since 2023. He finished 0-for-3 with a strikeout, a walk and an error committed at shortstop. Geraldo Perdomo received the day off.

“I know the results weren’t there offensively, I know there was an errant throw, but he’s gonna be fine,” Lovullo said. “He’s a special player. We just gotta get him grounded and let him get a feel for what’s going on.”

Golden opportunity

The Diamondbacks had their chance to get back into this game during the eighth inning, down 7-4. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. singled, Lawlar walked and Tim Tawa singled off Giants reliever Camilo Doval to load the bases with two outs for Ketel Marte.

The D-backs have a league-leading six grand slams this season, but Marte chased a first-pitch 100 mph heater inside that jammed him. Doval fielded the ball and started a 1-2-3 double play to end the inning.

Naylor crushed a two-run shot in the ninth in a case of too little, too late.

Kendall Graveman’s debut

On a brighter note, veteran reliever Kendall Graveman made his first appearance since 2023 and threw a scoreless inning.

“He’s gonna throw a lot of really good innings for us,” Lovullo said. “The stuff came out as good as we expected.”

Jeff Banister returns

Diamondbacks bench coach Jeff Banister missed Monday’s game to go to the hospital.

Banister returned on Tuesday, saying he went through an episode of transient global amnesia, a state of confusion that gets better slowly over a few hours, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Banister explained that he took a nap and the next thing he knew he was in the clubhouse without any recollection.

“ I feel great today,” Banister reassured. “After yesterday, I wake up this morning with a clear head, clear eyes, and body feels good. It’s nice to have great people around you to take care of you when things get challenging.”

He said he reminded the other coaches on Tuesday how important it is to take care of yourself with sleep, nutrition and hydration.

“Yesterday, everybody reaching out and texting … when guys do that, everybody underneath this roof does that, you know how tight a group this really is and how much they really care,” he said.

Diamondbacks’ next game

The Diamondbacks and Giants will play a day-game rubber match at 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday.

Eduardo Rodriguez (6.86 ERA) will start for the D-backs against Giants right-hander Jordan Hicks (5.82 ERA).

Catch the game on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. 

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