What we learned as Giants' pen implodes in sixth straight loss

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PHOENIX -- In the bottom of the eighth Tuesday of the Giants' game at Chase Field, old friend Mark Melancon started warming up in the home bullpen. The Arizona Diamondbacks were hoping to get him a lead to work with. They gave him a huge one. 

Dominic Leone allowed the tying run and left the bases loaded for Camilo Doval, who entered with one out in the eighth and gave up the go-ahead sac fly and then a three-run bomb to right that gave the Diamondbacks a five-run inning and a 6-2 win over the Giants. 

The Giants have dropped six straight and 12 of 15, and they once again paid for failing to do damage early. 

They wasted a leadoff single in the first when Austin Slater was inexplicably doubled off first base on a fly ball to right, and they scored just one run in the fourth after loading the bases with no outs. But replay was on their side, and that helped them take the lead back in the seventh. 

With Yermin Mercedes on second and two outs, Austin Wynns hit a high fly ball down the left field line. Diamondbacks left fielder Cooper Hummel went into a slide as he crossed over into foul territory, but the ball rolled out of his glove. It was initially ruled foul, but the Giants challenged and replay officials in New York ruled that the ball would have dropped in fair territory had Hummel not been there. Mercedes was sent home as the go-ahead run.

Tyler Rogers nearly gave the lead back in the seventh, but Alek Thomas' 398-foot fly ball to right-center died on the track. The lead would not survive the next inning. 

Good Wood

It's been an up-and-down first half for Alex Wood, but he threw five solid innings on Tuesday, allowing one run on four hits. Wood's only blemish came in the fifth when the Diamondbacks got a run on a double and hard single and nearly tacked on with a fly ball deep to the track in right. 

That hard contact was enough for the coaching staff and Wood was pulled after just 71 pitches. That was the second-lowest total of his season, with the only shorter outing being the one in Atlanta where he was rocked and pulled after just three outs. 

Ruining The Era

Leone had a 1.51 ERA last season, putting up the best season of his career in his first year in orange and black. He hasn't been quite that stingy this season, but still has been very good, and he has clearly taken over as the primary setup man for Doval. But Tuesday's game put a big dent in his numbers.

Leone was charged with four earned runs in one-third of an inning. His ERA jumped from 2.45 to 3.64 after one of his wildest outings as a Giant. Only 14 of his 28 pitches were strikes and he walked a pair. 

Back In Action

Brandon Crawford said his body felt a "lot better" after 10 days on the IL, with his problematic knee healing up and other ailments also getting time to clear up.

RELATED: Why Bart was brought to Arizona, but not activated

He looked pretty spry the first night back, hitting a 102 mph double to the gap in right-center in his second plate appearance and playing solid defense at short.

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