Sedona Red Recap: Giants top D-backs, win season-opening series

It is much, much too early to draw any definitive conclusions for what lies ahead in 2015 for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

But this much is clear: For the team to have any kind of success, preferably sustained success, the starting rotation needs to perform better. No starter pitched past the sixth inning in the season-opening series against the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants.

Jeremy Hellickson was the latest to fall short.

In front of an announced crowd of 21,642, the right-hander worked just 4.1 innings as the Giants won 5-2, making it nine straight series victories at Chase Field.

Making his D-backs debut, on his 28th birthday no less, Hellickson (0-1) allowed two runs in the second and another in the fifth before he was removed after throwing his 91st pitch.

The Giants touched him up for nine hits. They finished with 14.

Hits were at a premium for the D-backs, who were held without one through the first three innings.

Thanks to an effective sinker, rookie Chris Heston (1-0) kept the D-backs off balance at the plate. At one point, he had retired 10 straight.

Heston, a 12th-round pick out of East Carolina in 2009, went six innings, giving up two runs — neither of which were earned — on just three hits. He walked two and struck out five to earn his first Major League victory in only his second career start.

THE GOOD

The D-backs scored first for the first time in the series, and they did so without the benefit of a hit. Leading off the bottom of the first, A.J. Pollock was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt and then crossed home plate on Chris Owings’ groundout to short. The entire trip around the diamond took five pitches.

Two innings later, Pollock showcased his wheels once again, though this time in the field. He raced back to run down Brandon Crawford’s fly ball, crashing into the center field wall as he made the catch. The play likely saved a run, as Justin Maxwell was running on contact because there were two outs in the third.

VIDEO: A.J. Pollock isn't afraid of any walls: http://t.co/STQAMNDcEA pic.twitter.com/jfl5rn346s

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) April 9, 2015

Twice in the first four innings, Hellickson found himself staring at bases loaded with one out. Each time he escaped unscathed, though his pitch count suffered. In the first, Hellickson struck out Casey McGehee and induced a Maxwell groundout to end the threat. Then in the fourth, Hellickson flirted with danger before retiring Angel Pagan and Buster Posey, the later on a line drive to Paul Goldschmidt.

Daniel Hudson and Randall Delgado each turned in their second straight scoreless appearance of the season. Entering the game in relief of Hellickson in the fifth, Hudson pitched 1.2 innings. Delgado followed with a perfect seventh inning of work. The D-backs bullpen combined for 11.2 scoreless innings before Evan Marshall allowed a two-run home run to McGehee in the ninth.

THE BAD

The D-backs’ early lead was short-lived. With a runner on first and second and two outs in the second inning, Nori Aoki and Matt Duffy hit back-to-back doubles, the latter coming on the first pitch to put the Giants ahead 2-1.

By the way, Aoki and Duffy both reached base safely in each of their first three plate appearances of the night. Aoki did so with two hits and a walk, while Duffy also had two hits and got on board via an error — which was charged to Hellickson as he couldn’t field a bunt cleanly, kicking the ball into foul territory.

It wasn’t until the D-backs’ 13th batter of the game that they recorded their first hit. On a 2-0 pitch, David Peralta laced a single to center with one out in the fourth inning. That same frame, the D-backs left the bases loaded. They would strand a fourth runner — and their third in scoring position — the next inning, failing to take advantage of Cliff Pennington’s leadoff double.

Of the 14 Giants hits — at least one by all eight position starters — four were extra-base hits, including three doubles. For the series, San Francisco recorded 10 doubles plus three home runs to help account for the team’s 37 total hits. The visitors batted .330 (37-for-112) in the three games.

STAT OF THE GAME

2012: The last time the D-backs earned a series win against the Giants at Chase Field, when they swept a three-game set from April 6-8.

HE SAID IT

“It’s an issue that we knew; was a chance it could happen,” manager Chip Hale said of his starters failing to pitch deep into games. “I think in the second time around we’ll see better. I think they’re all amped up a little bit too much. First time around, trying to be that guy that can give us the six or seven (innings) instead of just relaxing and doing their thing; you have expect it early in the season. We knew there was a chance, but that’s why we went with the more-length relievers.”

NOTED

• The Giants went 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position, leaving eight on base through the first four innings.

• With a double in the sixth inning, Pagan extended his hitting streak against the D-backs to 14 games, tied for the longest in club history.

• Though he failed to record a single 1-2-3 inning, Hellickson did consistently get ahead in the count, throwing a first-pitch strike to 20 of the 25 batters he faced.

• During the game, the D-backs announced that they had agreed to loan infielder Walter Ibarra to Monterrey of the Mexican League.

• Upon further review, the following change was made by official scorer Gary Rausch to Monday’s game: Crawford’s two-run double in the fifth inning off Josh Collmenter has been changed to a RBI single with the second runner scoring on Mark Trumbo’s error, meaning Collmenter is now credited with four earned runs and one unearned run.

UP NEXT

After an off day Thursday, the D-backs will continue this season-opening homestand with a three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the two-time defending NL West champions.

Right-hander Chase Anderson gets the start in game one on Friday, April 10. He’ll be opposed by Brett Anderson, who spent last season in Colorado after five years in Oakland.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 30 minutes earlier on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

One of the few bright spots for the D-backs in 2014, Anderson went 9-7 with a 4.01 ERA in 21 starts, tying for the league rookie lead in wins, while ranking second in strikeouts (105) and sixth in ERA. He became the first Arizona rookie (third overall) to win his first five starts of the season, joining Randy Johnson (seven in 2000 and six in 2002) and Brandon Webb (nine in 2008).

Anderson is 1-1 in three starts all-time against the Dodgers.

The other Anderson, a lefty, made his one and only career start against the D-backs last season, losing a 5-3 decision on April 6 when he allowed five runs — three earned — on 10 hits and walked three in six innings.

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