PHOENIX — Some Giants gathered around the dugout before batting practice Wednesday and joked about how nice it will be to finally leave Arizona after nearly two consecutive months here. The hard infield dirt is among the things that won’t be missed, and on Wednesday it proved costly.
Brandon Belt’s error on a grounder helped kickstart a run of seven unanswered runs by the Diamondbacks, who held on for an 8-6 win.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
This was a Chase Field classic, with extra-base hits ricocheting all over the field as the runs piled up. The Giants jumped ahead 3-1, with the first run coming when Eduardo Nuñez singled, stole second, and slid in safely at the plate on Joe Panik’s infield single. Belt’s long homer extended the lead in the top of the fifth, but his error in the bottom of the frame kept Matt Moore on the mound.
Moore was cruising, but with two outs in the fifth he gave up a single and then issued a walk. Jake Lamb hit a hard chopper down the first base line that took an odd final hop on Belt. Two runs scored on the misplay. Lamb scored the tying run when Yasmany Tomas doubled. The Diamondbacks jumped ahead an inning later with two more runs and then scored twice more in the bottom of the seventh.
The Giants loaded the bases and scored two in the top of the eighth, but a year after going 0-for-62 when trailing after eight, they couldn’t complete the comeback.
Starting pitching report: Moore ended up with an uneven line, but he did something that would have Tim Lincecum scratching his head. Moore struck out Paul Goldschmidt in their first two matchups and did so on six pitches.
San Francisco Giants
Bullpen report: Neil Ramirez made his Giants debut in the sixth and got Cory Gearrin out of a jam by freezing Lamb with a 95 mph heater. His seventh inning was a bizarre one: Strikeout (reached on wild pitch), passed ball, RBI single, strikeout, RBI double, strikeout, caught stealing.
At the plate: Jarrett Parker’s first season as a regular is off to a rough start. He’s 0-for-7 in the series with five strikeouts.
In the field: Aaron Hill, in his 13th season, played left field for the first time in a regular season game. Naturally, the first two balls were hit his way. He could do nothing but chase a leadoff double, but he caught Chris Owings’ liner a batter later.
Attendance: The Diamondbacks announced a crowd of 14,675 human beings who did not know the Warriors were playing next door.
Up next: Jeff Samardzija hit the facing of the second deck with a BP homer on Tuesday. He’ll get a shot at matching Bumgarner on Thursday, with Robbie Ray going for the home team.