D-backs return home, drop series opener to San Francisco Giants

PHOENIX — It was hard to find much fault with Patrick Corbin’s outing on Friday. One run allowed over six innings pitched should be good enough to earn the win on most nights.

Key words there: “most” and “nights.”

As it turned out, Friday was not most nights.

Back at Chase Field following a 10-game road trip, the Arizona Diamondbacks dropped the first game of a 10-game homestand—and the opener of a three-game series—due to an inability to string together enough hits. They recorded seven, though five were infield singles, and as a result, they lost a 2-1 decision to the San Francisco Giants in front of an announced crowd of 30,981.

Austin Slater drove in both Giants runs, including the go-ahead RBI double off Andrew Chafin (1-3) in the seventh inning. Slater finished 3-for-4.

Pitching at Chase Field for the first time, Giants starter Andrew Suarez (3-4) held the D-backs scoreless through the first five innings before a Jake Lamb sacrifice fly tied the game at 1 in the sixth.

Suarez scattered seven hits over six innings with two walks and five strikeouts. The bullpen completed the job, securing Suarez’s first win since June 2, with three perfect innings.

Meanwhile, Corbin was saddled with his second straight and third no decision in his last four starts. He had just two clean innings, his first and his last, though in-between the Giants were only able to plate one run.

Corbin, who’s received four total runs of support in his last five starts, surrendered the one run on four hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

The loss ended the D-backs’ three-game winning streak.

THE GOOD

Held scoreless in each of the first five innings, the D-backs finally broke through in the sixth inning. Ketel Marte led off with a double, advanced to third on Chris Owings’ infield single and then touched home plate with the game-tying run on a sacrifice fly by Lamb, who hit a first-pitch fastball just deep enough in left field. It was Lamb’s 25th RBI.

As expected, Corbin relied heavily on the slider. And in fact, all five of his strikeouts came on swing-and-misses at his slider. Corbin struck out a pair in the first inning and three of the first five batters overall. His fourth and fifth strikeouts, though, didn’t arrive until the fifth inning, with Alen Hanson going down swinging for the second time.

It is now a 25-game scoreless streak, covering 22.1 IP, for Yoshihisa Hirano. He recorded the final two outs of the seventh inning, stranding a runner on second base in the process. The 25-game run set a new franchise record, surpassing the 24-game mark shared by J.J. Putz (June 23-August 31, 2012) and Brandon Lyon (April 9-June 12, 2008).

THE BAD

Entering the game, D-backs starters had a 13.0-inning scoreless streak with Corbin adding a 16.0-inning scoreless streak at home against the Giants. Both streaks ended in the second inning. With a runner on second base and one out, Slater, appearing in just his 10th game for San Francisco, went the other way, poking a 1-0 fastball into the right-field corner for an RBI double.

Between the second and third innings, the D-backs left a total of five runners on base, three of whom were in scoring position. In the second, back-to-back two-out infield singles went for naught when Jeff Mathis hit into a fielder’s choice. Then in the third, the D-backs loaded the bases—on two hits and a walk—with out outs only to see Marte ground out to shortstop to end the threat.

It was June 6 the last time Chafin allowed a run. And beginning play on Friday, he had made nine straight scoreless appearances, covering 8.1 innings. That streak ended two batters into the seventh inning. Slater ripped a 1-2 fastball into the right-center field gap to plate Brandon Crawford with the go-ahead run, 2-1. Crawford, a left-handed bat, had walked to lead off the inning.

STAT OF THE GAME

5: Five of the D-backs’ seven hits were infield singles

HE SAID IT

“Just a night where things offensively couldn’t really get going,” Torey Lovullo said. “We built some innings, we had some opportunities and just couldn’t cash in with a big hit. It’s just part of the game. It happens sometimes.”

NOTED

Corbin threw a first-pitch strike to 10-of-22 batters faced; in addition, he reached a 3-ball count five times

Lamb finished 1-for-3, extending his hitting streak to a season-long eight straight games (.367, 11-for-30)

Paul Goldschmidt went 1-for-3 with a walk and has now reached base safely in 28 of his last 29 games

David Peralta played in his 500th career game, going 1-for-4; overall, he’s batting .314 in his last 27 games

With a first-pitch temperature of 102 degrees, the game was played with both the roof and panels closed

UP NEXT

It’s start No. 2 for Shelby Miller.

After making his season debut at Miami, Miller will now make his home debut, taking the mound at Chase Field for the first time since April 23, 2017, his last start before underdoing Tommy John surgery.

Miller will be opposed by fellow right-hander Dereck Rodriguez in game two of the three-game series on Saturday, June 30. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

In his first start back on June 25, Miller went only 3.2 innings. The Marlins tagged him for five runs on six hits, including a home run, with two walks and five strikeouts. He threw 85 pitches.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez (2-1) is undefeated over his last three outings, with a win against the Marlins sandwiched around a pair of no decisions. In those three starts, he’s allowed just six runs in 18.2 innings with one walk and 16 strikeout. More importantly, the Giants won each of those games.

Rodriguez has never faced the D-backs.

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