Giants 11, Diamondbacks 4
PHOENIX, July 2 — The San Francisco Giants abused the Arizona Diamondbacks pitching staff Friday night, smacking 14 hits and three home runs en route to an 11–4 blowout victory. In defeat, the Diamondbacks did not help their own cause defensively, making multiple mistakes.
Once again, the Diamondbacks fell behind early. This time, it happened in the second inning. Third baseman Wilmer Flores led off with a walk and advanced to third on consecutive singles. With Flores on third, center fielder Steven Duggar on second, and second baseman Thairo Estrada on first, first baseman LaMonte Wade drove Flores in with a sacrifice fly. When Mike Yastrzemski followed with a single, Duggar scored. The frame ended with the Giants holding a 2–0 lead.
The lead grew to three when left fielder Alex Dickerson led off the third with a home run. After a single by shortstop Brandon Crawford, Gallen landed awkwardly on a pitch to Flores. It turned out to be right hamstring tightness. In came Matt Peacock, who retired the next three batters to keep the score 3–0.
Giants Hold off Comeback Attempts by Diamondbacks
The Diamondbacks narrowed the gap to 3–2 in the bottom of the fourth. This came courtesy of a bases-loaded single by third baseman Asdrubal Cabrera. He drove in two — shortstop Nick Ahmed and second baseman Eduardo Escobar. The Giants got those two runs back in the top of the fifth, however. A one-out double by Crawford and follow-up single by Flores made it a 4–2 game. After Duggar grounded into a 6–4 force play, Estrada brought him in with a double down the left-field line.
“Embarrassing”
The top of the eighth saw the Giants make it a 7–2 ballgame, and the runs came after yet another fielding blunder. With two out, pinch-hitter Jaylin Davis hit a popup to shallow right. Escobar, first baseman Christian Walker, and right fielder Josh Reddick converged on the ball but could not decide who would catch it. Consequently, it dropped untouched in the middle of their triangle, and Davis had a cheap double. The next batter — Wade — cashed in on the gift with a two-run homer. About the defensive mistake, manager Torey Lovullo said, it was “very” frustrating. “We’re so much better than what we did tonight. We need to tighten that up…. That is not Arizona Diamondbacks baseball. It was embarrassing.”
In the bottom of the eighth, Escobar and center fielder Pavin Smith belted a pair of solo home runs to make the score 7–4. The top of the ninth saw a leadoff walk followed by a double play. After Crawford drew a walk and stole second, Flores hit a grounder near the second-base bag. Ahmed ranged far to his left to corral it, but his throw to first pulled Walker off the bag toward the right-field side. A follow-up walk by Duggar loaded the bases for Estrada, who cleared the bases with a grand slam and finalized the score.
Looking Ahead
Giants starter Alex Wood (7–3) earned the win, while Gallen (1–4) took the loss. The Giants (51–30) and Diamondbacks (23–61) will play Game Three of the four-game series Saturday evening at 7:10 Arizona Time. Sammy Long (1–1, 4.95 ERA) and Jake Faria (0–0, 3.38 ERA) will start for the Giants and Diamondbacks, respectively.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
Players mentioned:
Wilmer Flores, Steven Duggar, Thairo Estrada, Mike Yastrzemski, Alex Dickerson, Brandon Crawford, Matt Peacock, Asdrubal Cabrera, Nick Ahmed, Eduardo Escobar, Jaylin Davis, Christian Walker, Josh Reddick, Torey Lovullo, Pavin Smith, Alex Wood, Sammy Long, Jake Faria
