The Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the San Francisco Giants 8-7 at Oracle Park, securing a big series win against a National League West opponent on the road. Despite an early six-run lead in the fourth, a short start by Eduardo Rodríguez and a rough day for the bullpen turned it into a nail-biter.
The Diamondbacks jumped on Jordan Hicks early. The first time through the order, they had five hits, a walk, and scored three runs. They had him on the ropes, with the lineup turning over with the bases loaded, but Hicks wiggled off the hook. Corbin Carroll lined into an unassisted double play on a diving snare by David Villar that saved at least two runs and Ketel Marte struck out on a full count.
The missed opportunity nearly came back to bite the Diamondbacks, as Rodríguez’s command faltered in the second. He walked the six and eight hitters in the Giants lineup with one out, loading the bases for Christian Koss. A single and a sacrifice fly got San Francisco within a run, but the left-hander escaped the inning.
That ended up being a big moment in the game, as the Diamondbacks’ offense quickly snatched the momentum back from the Giants. A double by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and a bloop single by Josh Naylor chased Hicks from the game and put two on for Eugenio Suárez.
“We know he has really good stuff,” Suárez told Todd Walsh postgame on DbacksTV. “We did not let him beat us with that sinker. He’s a hard-thrower; he knows how to use that sinker. That was our plan today, beating him with the fastball and not trying to chase low sliders. I think that worked out today pretty well.”
Suárez greeted Hayden Birdsong with a three-run home run to left, making it 6-2.
For Suárez, it marked career homer No. 289, passing Bobby Abreu for the fourth-most home runs from Venezuelan-born players. Next up is Magglio Ordóñez at 294, a milestone that he’s on track to pass later this season.
Ketel Marte added on in the fourth, obliterating a center-cut fastball from Birdsong to score two more runs. It was Marte’s second blast of the day, as he previously got Hicks for a solo shot in the first inning.
Facing the bottom of the Giants’ lineup a second time, Rodríguez struggled once again. He walked Luis Matos to begin the fourth and gave up an infield hit to David Villar. While he retired Koss on a lineout to right-center, Heliot Ramos smoked a two-run double to chip into Arizona’s lead. Rodríguez struck out Wilmer Flores to end the inning, but that would be it for the left-hander.
It was another frustrating start for a struggling pitcher. He allowed four runs on five hits, three walks, and four strikeouts over four innings. While he was able to limit the damage by controlling the top half of the Giants’ lineup, two of his three walks came around to score. Rodríguez’s ERA now sits at 7.05 for the season.
With the short start, that meant the Diamondbacks’ struggling bullpen needed to get 15 outs to secure the series win. Ryan Thompson pitched around a Matt Chapman single to put up a zero in the fifth. Ryne Nelson got the next nine outs, although he walked the high-wire act in all three of his innings.
With Arizona clinging onto an 8-6 lead, it appeared they got the third out of the inning when they tagged out Koss at second. However, that was because he was on the ground after a collision with Jordan Lawlar at the second base bag. After a meeting, the crew ruled Type 2 obstruction on Lawlar and put Koss back on second. Manager Torey Lovullo was ejected by first base umpire Mark Ripperger after a heated on-field discussion.
“It’s awesome when you see the manager fight for your players,” said Suárez. “It gives us the confidence, gives us the heat-up, we want to win for him and the team.”
The obstruction play wound up not hurting the team, as Nelson got Wilmer Flores to hit a foul pop-up to first base.
With three outs to go, Shelby Miller was tasked with getting the final three outs. Miller bent but did not break, as he allowed a single, double, and walked two to make it an 8-7 game. With his back to the wall, he induced a shallow flyout to center from Koss, barely escaping with his third save of the year.
“I feel like I was in the zone, or close, or around it,” Miller told Walsh. “I haven’t looked at the video yet but I feel the pitches were pretty close. Just a big shot, trying to throw competitive pitches against those hitters over there that were pretty good, it seemed like they’re pretty patient. At the end of the day, we got the W, walking out of here with a series win, which was huge.”
Marte was pinch-hit for in the seventh inning by Jordan Lawlar. It’s unclear what the reason was, stay tuned for more updates.