Arizona Diamondbacks’ Patrick Corbin pitches well, but takes loss on 26th birthday

PHOENIX — Any game featuring a pitching matchup of Patrick Corbin vs. Madison Bumgarner figures to be a good one.

Sunday was no exception.

The D-backs lefty, who turned 26 Sunday, allowed just two runs and four hits over five innings, but was outdueled by his San Francisco counterpart in a 2-1 Giants win.

Bumgarner also went five innings, allowing just four hits and one run in picking up his 10th win of the year that also completed a Giants’ three-game sweep.

San Francisco struck first when Justin Maxwell crushed a Corbin fastball for an opposite-field solo home run with one out in the second inning.

The D-backs answered in the bottom of the second when Welington Castillo scored on a fielder’s choice that tied the game at 1-1.

Corbin started the third by walking second baseman Joe Panik. He’d come around to score on an RBI double from Hunter Pence — an extra-base hit that would provide the eventual winning margin.

“The homer was just over the plate,” Corbin said following the game. “The pitch I’d like to have back was the one to Pence — a breaking ball in the zone — I was trying to bury it with (Brandon) Crawford on deck there.

“Just a couple bad pitches there, but I was happy how the last two innings felt.”

After Pence’s double, Corbin struck out Crawford to end the third, starting a string of seven consecutive Giants he retired.

“I felt like I was able to go out there and was a little more aggressive and I got into a rhythm,” he said.

That rhythm ended after Corbin got Matt Duffy to fly out to end the fifth. With the pitcher scheduled to lead off the bottom of the frame, D-backs manager Chip Hale opted to turn to pinch-hitter Danny Dorn.

Corbin threw 86 pitches (54 strikes) in the game, which marked just third start back at the Major-League level following Tommy John surgery last spring.

Hale said Corbin gave the D-backs exactly what they hoped for Sunday.

“I think that’s what we expect,” Hale said. “We expect five. That’s why we have the extra guy in the bullpen. We try to make sure we have somebody with a little bit of length ready when he pitches. That’s not a problem. If he pitches like that, we’ll be fine.”

The 86 pitches were the most Corbin had thrown in a big-league start this year — the previous high was 76 against Colorado July 4. He threw 79 pitches twice for the Double-A Mobile BayBears during his rehab assignment.

Corbin is scheduled to make another start Friday against the Milwaukee Brewers at Chase Field — an appearance that will mark another first as he tries to regain his 2013 All-Star form.

“Since I’ve been here, I’ve been on 7-days (rest) and 8-days twice, so this will be the first time back on five days, which will be good,” he said. “Just to get back into a routine and get things going. I think today, getting up to 86 pitches was really good. I felt strong and I wasn’t tired at all, so that was a positive.”