Diamondbacks lose third straight home game to Giants
Aug 17, 2019, 10:04 PM | Updated: Aug 18, 2019, 10:35 am
San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford, right, turns a double play while avoiding Arizona Diamondbacks' Jake Lamb (22) on ball hit by Nick Ahmed in the sixth inning during a baseball game, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2019, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
PHOENIX, Ariz. – Nine games into their 13-game stretch against the National League West, the Arizona Diamondbacks have regressed back to their losing ways at home against division opponents, dropping their third in a row to the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night by a score of 11-6.
The D-backs are now 2-7 against the Giants at Chase Field this season.
Taylor Clarke got the start for Arizona and cruised through the first inning, effortlessly sitting down all three batters in order.
The D-backs gave him some early run support in the bottom of the inning. Jarrod Dyson had a leadoff single and was driven in by Wilmer Flores with an RBI double. Adam Jones later reached on an error, which scored Flores to put the D-backs up 2-0.
Things fell apart for Clarke and the D-backs suddenly in the second inning.
After allowing a leadoff walk to Alex Dickerson, a throwing error by Flores and a single by Kevin Pillar to load up the bases, Brandon Belt needed just three pitches to give the Giants the lead with a grand slam. The HR marked his second big fly in consecutive nights at Chase Field.
Clarke continued to struggle, as he gave up singles to Brandon Crawford, Mike Yastrzemski, and Stephen Vogt to load the bases again for a second time in the inning. An Evan Longoria sac fly scored Crawford to put the Giants up 5-2.
Torey Lovullo had seen enough of Clarke at that point. The rookie went 1.2 innings, allowing five hits, five runs, with three being earned, and one walk. He also struck out one.
“He was in the 40-pitch range, and I thought his stuff was getting a little loose,” said Lovullo. “To me, he’s laboring and I need to get him off the mound at that point and protect him the best way that I could. So that was the reason for his removal, the single-inning pitch count.”
After giving up the two runs in the first inning, Giants starting pitcher Logan Webb settled in and tossed four innings of scoreless baseball in his Major League debut. He allowed five hits and two earned runs in five innings with seven strikeouts and one walk.
The Giants added to their lead in the third inning with a Belt RBI-single — who had six RBIs on the night — and then again in innings six, seven, and eight. Arizona’s bullpen of Matt Andriese, Kevin Ginkel, and T.J. McFarland was unable to stop the bleeding, and the never-ending streak of singles from the Giants. Pillar was 5-5 with an RBI and three runs scored. Young Yastrzemski went 3-6 with three singles.
Christian Walker got Arizona back on the board in the seventh inning with a solo home run, his 22nd of the year. Eduardo Escobar cut the deficit to five runs with a sac fly RBI.
Nick Ahmed also added a late inning two-run HR, his 16th of season, but the deficit was too large to get another comeback going.
Flores was a stud at the plate for the D-backs in the loss, going 4-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Dyson went 2-5 and scored two runs. Ketel Marte was a late scratch due to some lower back tightness.
UP NEXT
The D-backs will try to avoid the four-game sweep in the series finale on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. with pregame coverage beginning 40 minutes earlier on 98.7 FM Arizona’s Sports Station.
Merrill Kelly will make his fourth career start against the Giants, going up against staff ace Madison Bumgarner. Kelly is 1-1 with a 2.76 ERA against San Francisco in his previous three starts this season.
