Arizona Diamondbacks' Josh Rojas (10) slides safely into second base for a first inning double as the Arizona Diamondbacks face the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in San Francisco, CA., on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. (Scot Tucker / SFBay.ca)
Behind a solid performance from starter Anthony DeSclafani and a giant cluster of offense, the Giants continued their dominance against the Diamondbacks by winning their fifth-consecutive game against them this season with a 13-7 triumph at Oracle Park Wednesday night.
Following a dramatic comeback win on Tuesday evening, San Francisco (43-25) pounded Arizona (20-49) into a tie with the 1963 New York Mets for the worst-ever road losing streak at 22 straight. The Giants launched five home runs at home for the first time since 2003 while DeSclafani completed five innings, allowing only one earned run and striking out five.
On the offensive showcase, Kapler said:
“I think last night reminded us that we have big innings in us and we have the ability to grind out at-bats and wear pitchers down.”
The Giants are now tied with the Chicago White Sox for the best record in baseball.
DeSclafani (6-2, 3.01 ERA) ran into early trouble in the first when he yielded a leadoff double to Josh Rojas on a soft-grounder that dribbled along the open space down the third base line, an area the Giants had mainly left vacant because of the shift on the left-handed hitting Rojas. Ketel Marte followed up with a line drive that sliced off the glove of Wade. in left field to score Rojas. Eduardo Escobar was next, capitalizing on the error with a run-scoring double down the left field line to extend Arizona’s lead to 2-0.
A nice rebound was made by Wade – usually a sure-handed fielder both in the outfield and at first base – who saved a run with a running catch at the warning track to retire the side. DeSclafani fanned two Diamondbacks in the first but it took 29 pitches to escape the frame.
In the bottom of the first, Wade singled and Mike Yastrzemski drew a walk to set the stage for Posey to launch Merrill Kelly‘s 0-1 changeup in on his hands for a three-run home run to left to give the Giants a 3-2 lead and the ultimate answer-back swing. The go-ahead blast was Posey’s 12th of the season, which leads all National League backstops. With 47 games played, Posey also leads all NL catchers in All-Star votes and looks to be the favorite to start this year’s mid-summer classic in Colorado.
For the eighth time this season, Posey recorded at least three hits.
Later in the frame, Brandon Crawford walked and, in the 40th minute of the opening inning, Jason Vosler knocked him in with a two-bagger down the right field line to double the lead at 4-2. The swing was Vosler’s 10th hit of the season, with seven of them ending up as extra-base-hits (3 HR, 4 2B).
To lead off the bottom of the third, Brandon Belt – not known for demonizing speed – hammered a fastball into the 415-foot right-center field gap and raced his way to his second triple in as many days. Belt is now 7-for-11 in his last three games with six extra-base-hits (3 2B, 2 3B, HR). In a rare instance with nobody out, the Giants failed to score Belt from third and Kelly (2-7, 5.40 ERA) avoided any further damage.
The Giants added some padding in the fourth when the Diamondbacks turned to their bullpen, a group with the second-lowest K/9 rate in the big leagues entering the game (8.36). Former Giants farmhand Keury Mella (2-0, 54.00 ERA) entered into the game and was greeted with an opposite-field home run from Duggar, who has now homered in two straight games. With a few outfielders set to be activated off the injured list, Duggar has been at the forefront of talks, most of which include him being optioned back to Triple-A Sacramento.
Once a promising young prospect in San Francisco’s farm system, Mella retired the next hitter before surrendering an opposite-field home run to Wade, who had just enough carry to sneak it 370 feet over the left field wall to make it a 6-2 lead. Like Duggar, Wade’s future is also up in the air when the time comes for the Giants to add Alex Dickerson and Darin Ruf to the active roster. When the Giants loaded up the bases in the fourth inning with two outs after two walks and a single, Donovan Solano continued the terror by wrapping a two-run single to left to bring it to 8-2.
On Wade and Duggar’s contributions, Kapler noted:
“I think they’re seeing balls up in the strike zone and getting pitches they can handle. They’re attacking those pitches, they’re elevating those pitches. Duggar, since Spring Training, has used the entire field and demonstrated that he has power to all parts of the ballpark.”
Giants’ manager Gabe Kapler used a pitch-hitter for DeSclafani in the fifth after just 81 pitches, but the move transformed into an added bonus when Wilmer Flores destroyed a towering home run to left to make it 10-2. The majestic shot produced zero movement from Arizona left fielder David Peralta. Now with eight pinch-hit homers, San Francisco now leads baseball in that category.
Later in the fifth, Yastrzemski drew his third walk and Posey notched an infield single for his third hit. Belt followed with a three-run blast, his ninth home run of the year, a line-shot to right that just kept carrying into the arcade. The Giants five home runs hit on Wednesday night were the most they’ve hit at home since April 7, 2003. The record stands at six, on Sept. 5, 2000.
The Diamondbacks showed some life in the top of the sixth when Asdrúbal Cabrera led off with his fifth homer of the year to left field off southpaw Conner Menez (1-0, 0.75 ERA). After the D-Backs loaded the bases later in the frame thanks to a single, fielder’s choice, and a costly throwing error by Menez, Marte grounded a base hit to score two runs and make it 13-5. The next hitter – Pavin Smith – topped off the five-spot with the second-consecutive two-run single in the inning to inch his club closer at 13-7.
José Álvarez (2-1, 3.52 ERA) entered out of the bullpen in the seventh and fired two perfect innings. Jimmie Sherfy (1-0, 0.00 ERA) pitched a scoreless ninth to complete the win.
The Giants will attempt to finish the four-game sweep against Arizona Thursday afternoon at Oracle Park as they send right-hander Kevin Gausman (7-1, 1.43 ERA) to the mound. In two June starts, Gausman has thrown 11 innings while allowing only two earned runs and striking out 14. The Diamondbacks announced that righty Zac Gallen (1-1, 3.04 ERA) will be activated off the injured list to start the game. First pitch is 1:05 p.m.
Right-hander John Brebbia continues to rehab from Tommy John Surgery and threw in his second-straight game during his rehab assignment in Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday evening. … Kapler said that “progress is happening” with right-hander Tyler Beede as he inches closer towards a return from Tommy John. He has made nine rehab starts for Sacramento. … Reliever Reyes Moronta has continued his throwing program and reached 75 feet before Tuesday evening’s contest.
Last modified June 17, 2021 1:04 am
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