{"id":48591,"date":"2021-07-05T01:06:25","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T05:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=48591"},"modified":"2021-07-05T01:06:25","modified_gmt":"2021-07-05T05:06:25","slug":"giants-diamondbacks-20210704","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2021\/07\/05\/giants-diamondbacks-20210704\/","title":{"rendered":"Giants Ride Timely Hitting to Win over Diamondbacks, Posey Hurt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Giants 5, Diamondbacks 2<\/strong><\/h2>\n

PHOENIX, July 4 \u2014 The San Francisco Giants<\/a> took advantage of every baserunner they had Sunday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>. They only left two on base, riding this efficiency to a 5\u20132 victory in a game that saw All-Star catcher Buster Posey leave early with an injury.<\/p>\n

The Giants took an early 2\u20130 lead thanks to a pair of singles and a double. These came in the top of the first from center fielder Austin Slater, Posey, and first baseman Darin Ruf, with Ruf hitting the double. Posey\u2019s single scored Slater from second, while Ruf\u2019s double plated Posey from first standing up. Slater made it a 3\u20130 game when he led off the third with a 467-foot, 108.4 mph bomb to left-center.<\/p>\n

Center fielder Pavin Smith notched the first hit of the night for the Diamondbacks in the bottom of the fifth, but his trip around the bases ended quickly, as right fielder Josh Reddick followed with a 3-6-1 double play groundout. Catcher Stephen Vogt ended that inning with a fly to center.<\/p>\n

Giants Extend Lead, Fend off Diamondbacks Rally<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The lead swelled to five in the top of the sixth. After a two-out walk by Posey, Ruf launched a no-doubt two-run home run. The bottom of the inning, despite being scoreless, contained a fateful play. With one out, pinch-hitter Daulton Varsho hit a foul tip off Posey. It hit Posey\u2019s wrist, just below the base of the glove. After being looked at, Posey stayed in the game \u2014 for one pitch. When Varsho struck out, backup catcher Curt Casali took over. Posey turned out to have a left thumb contusion; x-rays were negative.<\/p>\n

The Diamondbacks made it a 5\u20131 game in the bottom of the seventh. It came on a two-out RBI single by right fielder Josh Reddick. He brought in third baseman Asdrubal Cabrera, who led off the inning with a double. The inning ended prematurely, however, when the Giants gunned Reddick down while he attempted to take second on the throw home.<\/p>\n

Riley Smith and Joakim Soria combined to pitch a scoreless seventh, eighth, and ninth for the Diamondbacks, with Smith pitching the first two of those innings. Meanwhile, Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani was terrific. He allowed two runs on six hits, striking out seven while walking two in 8 2\/3 innings. Tyler Rogers came in to finish things off, walking Pavin Smith before retiring Reddick on a grounder to second for his 10th save.<\/p>\n

Postgame Reflections<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201c(Diamondbacks starter Caleb Smith) was one pitch away or one at-bat away from making his line score look totally different,\u201d Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said after the game. \u201cHe was commanding the baseball, got nicked up early, but went six innings. (Caleb) did a really good job of damage control and gave us a chance to play some catch-up baseball. We just couldn\u2019t get anything going offensively.\u201d Caleb added, \u201cI thought I pitched better than what the scoreboard showed. Things went their way in the first inning with the two broken-bat hits that got over our infielders\u2019 heads. Then I made a mistake to Ruf, and they ended up scoring. It was just a fastball middle-middle, and he hit a double.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sixth inning \u201churt,\u201d said Lovullo. \u201cIt drove the score to 5\u20130 and changed the whole dynamic of what remained of this game. But I thought he was good \u2014 he pitched into that sixth inning. I thought he was good enough to win a ballgame. It just didn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeSclafani \u201chad more than just one pitch going,\u201d according to Lovullo. \u201cIt was an aggressive fastball, down fastballs, on both sides of the plate. He threw a number of breaking balls or off-speed pitches behind in counts. When you\u2019re trying to lean on something that\u2019s aggressive as far as that fastball (velocity), and then he changes speeds on you side to side and front to back, it becomes a little bit of a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caleb Smith felt that, other than the first inning, he made two mistakes: \u201cthe change-up to Slater (in the third) and the curveball to Ruf in the sixth. Other than that, I thought I had a decent night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n

DeSclafani (9\u20133) earned the win, handing the loss to Caleb Smith (2\u20135). The Diamondbacks (23\u201363), after a day off Monday, will face the Colorado Rockies<\/a> in a three-game series to finish off the current homestand. Meanwhile, the first-place Giants (53\u201330) head back to San Francisco for a six-game homestand. After a three-gamer Monday through Wednesday with the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a>, they play a three-gamer Friday through Sunday against the Washington Nationals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>