Zack Godley struggles, Diamondbacks swept by San Francisco

PHOENIX — With the series already lost, the Arizona Diamondbacks just hoped to avoid the sweep. And with their hottest pitcher, Zack Godley, on the mound, they liked their chances.

One problem: The San Francisco Giants refused to cooperate.

And it was more like six problems.

Six different Giants players had RBI with Brandon Belt, Joe Panik and Hunter Pence all driving in a pair in what was a 9-6 win in front of an announced crowd of 29,712 at Chase Field on Sunday afternoon.

The victory, the Giants’ seventh in eight games, completed the three-game series sweep, their third of the season and first against the D-backs since 2016.

Godley entered the game riding a career-high four-start winning streak. He hadn’t lost since, well, since the last time he faced the Giants.

The two defeats nearly mirrored each other.

On Sunday, Godley (9-6) went four-plus innings allowing seven runs, matching a season-high set on June 4, when the Giants tagged Godley for seven runs in just 3.1 innings of work.

Command was once again an issue for Godley. It’s something he’s struggled with on-and-off this season.

Godley walked five, one intentionally, and hit a batter. Overall, 15 of the 26 batters he faced reached base safely, with three of the walks scoring including leadoff walks in the second and fifth innings.

Offensively for the D-backs, Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run home run, while Jarrod Dyson (two), John Ryan Murphy (one) and Chris Owings (one) each had RBI. It obviously wasn’t enough, however.

The D-backs were swept for the fourth time this season and their current three-game losing streak is the longest since a seven-game slide in late May.

THE GOOD

Held scoreless the previous 13 straight innings, the D-backs finally ended the drought by plating a pair of runs in the second. Owings hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at one and then two batters later, Dyson dropped a two-out single into left field to drive in Jake Lamb with the go-ahead run. For both Owings and Dyson it was their first RBI of the series.

And Dyson wasn’t done. He added another RBI single, again going the opposite way to left field, in the fourth inning to trim the deficit to 4-3. It was a pretty good day for Dyson, who became the ninth player in team history to record at least two hits, two RBI and two stolen bases in a single game, and the first since Jean Segura on Aug. 19, 2016 at San Diego.

Following Nick Ahmed’s triple to leadoff the seventh inning, Goldschmidt greeted the first offering—a 94 mph fastball—from Pierce Johnson and put the baseball into the pool area in right field for a two-run home run, trimming the deficit to 8-5. It was Goldschmidt’s 18th homer of the season and RBIs 43 and 44, tying him with David Peralta for team lead.

THE BAD

A leadoff walk followed by a pair of singles sandwiched around a strikeout put the Giants ahead 1-0 in the second inning. Panik singled to right field to score Nick Hundley who had walked on four pitches and then later advanced to third base on a wild pitch. It was Panik’s third RBI of the series.

Handed a 2-1 lead to begin the third inning, Godley coughed up the advantage as the Giants scored twice on four hits and a hit-by-pitch. Both runs scored with two outs, by the way. Hundley and Austin Slater each singled, Hundley to center and Slater to right, as the Giants sent eight batters to the plate.

When the pitcher records your team’s first extra-base hit of the game, you know things are going well. Leading off the fourth inning, Holland doubled into right field for his first career two-base hit. Two batters later, Belt hit his own double to score Holland and extend the Giants lead to 4-2.

So much for a close ballgame. Leading 4-3, the Giants exploded for four runs in the fifth inning. Panik drove in his second run with a single to center, Pence followed with a pinch-hit two-run double off Silvino Bracho and then two batters later, Belt plated Pence with a run-scoring single for his second RBI.

STAT OF THE GAME,  part I

17.18: That would be Godley’s ERA (14 ER in 7.1 IP) over his last two starts against the Giants

STAT OF THE GAME,  part II

8-for-21: The Giants batted .381 with runners in scoring position and .355 (11-for-31) in the series overall in such situations, helping them outscore the D-backs, 18-6

HE SAID IT

“Just an unfortunate series. We couldn’t put everything together in one game,” Torey Lovullo said. “That’s the beauty of baseball. It’s what happens in this game. Just got to turn the page and get ready for the Cardinals tomorrow.”

NOTED

Godley threw a first-pitch strike to 15-of-26 batters faced; in addition, he reached a 3-ball count five times

Ahmed finished 2-for-5; his first-inning single extended his hitting streak to five straight games (.389; 7-for-18)

Dyson finished 2-for-4 with a walk; has reached base safely in 20 of his last 26 games (18 hits and 14 walks)

Goldschmidt finished 1-for-3 with two walks, one intentional; is batting .385 (37-for-96) in his last 24 games

Jake Lamb went 2-for-5 with two runs scored; has hit safely in nine of his 10 games, batting .342 (13-for-38)

Ketel Marte was not in the lineup, which was expected after he suffered a right hamstring cramp last night

With a first-pitch temperature of 97 degrees, the game was played with both the roof and panels closed

Deandre Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick of the Suns in the 2018 NBA Draft, threw out the ceremonial first pitch

UP NEXT

A three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The D-backs welcome in the Cardinals with a pitching matchup featuring Robbie Ray and Carlos Martinez in the opener on Monday, July 2. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on 98.7 FM, Arizona’s Sports Station.

This marks Ray’s first home start since April 18 due to his recent near two-month stint on the disabled list. He tossed six shutout innings with two hits, two walks and six strikeouts in his return on June 27 at Miami.

Ray (3-0) will look to beat the Cardinals for a second time this season.

Meanwhile, Martinez (4-4) is coming off a victory against the Indians in which he allowed two runs on six hits in six innings. He also struck out eight, his third-best effort of the season.

Over his career, Martinez is 2-1 in eight games, including five starts, facing the D-backs.

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