Shelby Miller, Diamondbacks handled by red-hot Giants

PHOENIX, Ariz. — It’s been a rather rude welcome back for Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Shelby Miller.

In his first two starts post-Tommy John surgery, he’s allowed 11 runs in 8.2 innings. That’s an ERA of 11.42 for those who don’t want to do the math.

Now to be fair, Miller wasn’t expected to just pick up where he left off 14 months ago. Still, the results have not been good, and on Saturday night, a 7-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants, the 38,117 in attendance at Chase Field voiced their displeasure. Loudly.

The booing began in the top of the third inning, when the Giants scored four runs. It continued in the home half, first as Miller made his way to home plate to leadoff the inning and then as he headed back towards the dugout after grounding out.

To his credit, Miller (0-2) pitched two more innings, including a clean fifth, his only one of the game.

“I feel like I’m past that point,” he said, when trying to weigh the results with his health. “Right now, we’re getting close to the all-star break and we’re playing division teams that are right behind us trying to get first place away from us and I’m going out there and not pitching well. So, that’s more of what I’m upset about. I’m not really focused on the little positives that I can take from coming back from a major surgery.”

The final line on Miller, who threw 96 pitches: six runs on nine hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Of those nine hits, two were home runs with Brandon Crawford going deep in the second and Andrew McCutchen in the fourth inning. Both were solo shots.

Crawford, Pablo Sandoval and Joe Panik all finished with two RBI in support of Dereck Rodriguez, who the D-backs had no answers for.

Rodriguez (3-1) pitched 6.1 shutout innings, scattering six hits. He walked two and struck out five.

The Giants have won each of the first two games of the three-game series — handing the D-backs back-to-back losses for the first time since May 26-27 — and six of seven overall.

THE GOOD

Well, when you get shutout — for the fourth time this season — there isn’t a lot of good, but here’s one: David Peralta. He had two of the D-backs’ seven hits, doubling in both the first and fourth innings. He also walked before flying out to left field in his last at-bat. Peralta is now batting .324 (35-for-108) with nine doubles and 10 walks in his last 28 games.

THE BAD

It’s one of the “golden rules” of baseball: Never make the first or third out at third base. Jake Lamb made the final out in the first inning when he overran third base — perhaps a late stop sign put up by Tony Perezchica — trying to score on Peralta’s double into the left-field corner.

Just as he did in his season debut, Miller allowed an early-inning home run. Leading off the second, Crawford hit a 1-2 curveball over the right-field fence and into the pool area to give the Giants a 1-0 lead. It was his 10th homer of the season and first in 23 career at-bats against Miller.

Four runs on five hits with one walk and a sacrifice fly. The Giants sent nine batters to the plate in the third inning against Miller. Sandoval plated two with a single up the middle, while Crawford (bases loaded four-pitch walk) and Panik (sacrifice fly) accounted for the other two runs.

Yet another Giants run crossed home plate in the fourth inning. And it was another Giants home run. With two outs, McCutchen lifted an 0-1 cutter just over the fence in right field to make it a 6-0 ballgame. For McCutchen, it was his ninth homer and 37th RBI of the season.

It was going to end at some point, and that some point was the eighth inning. Jimmy Sherfy allowed the first regular season run of his career when Panik lined a first-pitch fastball over right-field fence. Sherfy began the day tied for the fourth-longest scoreless streak (14 games) to begin a D-backs career.

STAT OF THE GAME, part I

3: Of the D-backs’ seven hits, three were infield singles; that brings their series total to eight of the 14 total hits they’ve recorded.

STAT OF THE GAME, part II

2: The D-backs ran themselves into a pair of outs — Lamb in the first and Ketel Marte in the second inning — on the bases, ruining any scoring opportunity.

HE SAID IT

“You got to give the Giants some credit. They jumped on Shelby today,” Torey Lovullo said. “I thought Shelby had pretty good stuff…but the four-run third really put us behind the eight-ball and he was making mistakes out over the middle of the plate with an aggressive fastball and they weren’t missing.”

NOTED

Miller threw a first-pitch strike to 12-of-25 batters faced; in addition, he reached a 3-ball count five times.

Lamb finished 0-for-3 with a strikeout, thus ending his season-long hitting streak at eight straight games.

Marte, who went 2-for-3, exited the game because of a cramp in his right hamstring in the seventh inning.

With a first-pitch temperature of 105 degrees, the game was played with both the roof and panels closed.

Prior to the game’s first pitch there was a moment of remembrance for the 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots.

UP NEXT

Looking for a fifth straight win, Zack Godley takes the mound in the series finale. He’ll be opposed by left-hander Derek Holland on Sunday, July 1. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.

Godley (9-5) has beaten the Rockies, Mets, Pirates and Marlins in succession, a four-game winning streak during which he’s allowed two runs in each start.

His nine wins are not only a team-high but also one shy of the league leaders: Jon Lester, Aaron Nola and Max Scherzer.

Meanwhile, Holland (5-7) is coming off a six-inning, one-run effort against the Rockies. He, though, did not factor in the decision.

Twice Holland has faced the D-backs this season, going 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA (2 ER in 10.0 IP). Both those matchups happened in San Francisco, however. He has never pitched at Chase Field.

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