The Diamondbacks kept rolling against San Francisco on Tuesday night, stretching their season-long run against the Giants to eight straight with an 8-2 win in Phoenix.
Arizona got the night started fast and never really let go. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. delivered the first jolt with a two-out, three-run homer in the first inning, and Ketel Marte added to the damage with a two-run single in the third before later launching his own home run. By the time the Giants could breathe, the Diamondbacks were already in control.
Brandon Pfaadt, recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A and making his first big-league start since April 11, gave Arizona exactly what it needed after that early burst. Working with four relievers, he helped hold San Francisco to four hits and guided the Diamondbacks to their second straight win in the three-game series.
The first inning set the tone. After Landen Roupp walked Geraldo Perdomo and Gabriel Moreno, Gurriel stepped in and crushed a three-run shot with two outs. Arizona kept piling on in the third, when Roupp walked Jorge Barrosa with two outs to force in a run, then watched Marte follow with a two-run single that pushed the lead to 6-0 and ended the night for the Giants starter.
Roupp never found a rhythm. His six walks came back to haunt him, and he was gone before finishing the third. He was charged with six runs on five hits in 2 2/3 innings, struck out four, and saw his winless streak reach 11 games after opening the season 5-1.
That early cushion made Pfaadt’s return to a starter’s role much easier. He carried the shutout into the sixth before Luis Arraez got San Francisco on the board with his fourth homer of the season. Pfaadt finished with 5 1/3 innings, allowing just two other hits, walking one and striking out two.
The Giants scored again in the seventh on Rafael Devers’ 15th homer, but Arizona answered with more offense of its own. Marte finished with two hits and three RBIs, then added his 17th homer of the season. Moreno later drove in the final run with an RBI single in the eighth.
Arizona finished with a 10-4 edge in hits, and Gurriel, Marte, Moreno and Max Kepler each had two hits. Moreno scored twice. Arraez accounted for three of San Francisco’s four hits, collecting a single in the first, a triple in the third and the homer in the sixth before flying out to left in the eighth while trying to complete the cycle.
The win gave the Diamondbacks their fifth straight home victory over the Giants this season.
In Other News...
Giants Fans Are Getting Dragged Back Into This Free Agency Debate
Several weeks after the Giants Pride Night, the fallout from four pitchers protesting the teams Pride hats is still echoing around San Francisco. What started as a game-night controversy has turned into a broader conversation about the city the Giants represent, and whether that environment can become a factor when the club tries to bring in outside talent.
San Francisco Chronicle reporter Susan Slusser said the debate could linger because the citys prominent LGBTQ community is part of the reality free agents have to consider. The question hovering over the Giants now is not just how they manage the public reaction to the protest, but whether that reaction becomes something players weigh when the offseason market opens up again. [Read more 🡒]
Brandon Pfaadt Is Back In A Huge Moment For Arizona
Arizona has been piecing together its pitching plans while working through injuries to Michael Soroka and Ryne Nelson, and that pressure has pushed the club into some familiar roster juggling. The latest move gives Torey Lovullo another option as the Diamondbacks try to steady a rotation that has had to absorb a heavier bullpen workload than planned, and the timing matters with the Giants next on the schedule.
Brandon Pfaadt has been working his way back after time spent in the bullpen and Triple-A, where the results were enough to keep him in the conversation for a return to the starting group. His next outing comes with real significance for a Diamondbacks staff that has been stretched thin, and the corresponding roster move should tell more about how Arizona is trying to manage the rest of the week. [Read more 🡒]
Giants Keep Embarrassing Themselves In The One Area Posey Preaches Most
For a club that has spent much of the season talking about cleaner habits and sharper execution, the Giants keep finding ways to undercut that message with the same old baserunning sloppiness. It has shown up in recent days in more than one form, from Willy Adames losing track of the outs while chatting with Mookie Betts to rookie Jonah Cox making a similar mistake, which only deepens the sense that this is becoming more than an isolated lapse.
The bigger issue for San Francisco is that these are exactly the kinds of details Buster Posey has said matter most, the little things that should be nonnegotiable on a well-run team. Instead, the Giants are leaving the impression of a club that is not nearly attentive enough in the areas that most reward discipline, and that puts pressure not just on the players but on Posey, Tony Vitello and the rest of the staff to make sure the message finally sticks. [Read more 🡒]
