SAN FRANCISCO -- The Arizona Diamondbacks dropped the Giants to new depths last month by sweeping them at Chase Field. Over the final 18 innings of their series this week at Oracle Park, they once again put a huge dent in the Giants' playoff hopes.
The Giants lost 5-0 on Thursday, getting a disappointing series split. They went 5-2 on the homestand but didn't make up as much ground as hoped before heading back on the road. They're six games behind the San Diego Padres.
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SIGN UP HERE The Giants had this series lined up perfectly. They extended their winning streak to five games with Tuesday's walk-off and they had a chance to sweep the homestand behind Carlos Rodón and Logan Webb.
Rodón did his part Wednesday but the bullpen blew it. A day later, Webb had one of his worst outings of the year. On the other side, Zac Gallen took a shutout into the eighth inning.
Anyway, here are three more things to know before the Giants (59-59) head off to Denver, Detroit and Minneapolis.
Weird One For Webb
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A few hours after Rodón kept the people running the 'K board' extremely busy, Webb had trouble putting hitters away. In his 70th big league start, he finished without a strikeout for the first time. This was just his second big league appearance without a strikeout, and the other one was a relief outing that lasted just one-third of an inning.
Nine of the first 17 hitters reached base against Webb and he did a nice job of limiting the damage early. But the Diamondbacks tacked on two in the fifth and knocked him out after 4 2/3 innings. It was his shortest start since June 4 in Miami and just the third time this year that he failed to complete five innings.
#bunted
With two outs in the seventh, Joc Pederson singled and Evan Longoria doubled. The Giants finally had something going against Gallen, and they had Brandon Belt, their No. 5 hitter, at the plate. Belt tried to put down a bunt on a 1-2 pitch and pushed it foul for an inning-ending strikeout. The crowd groaned and then booed as it became clear that the threat was over.
The Giants lead the Majors with 25 bunt hits and they have tried to surprise opponents with two-strike bunts. But that was still an odd time for it.
Positive Signs
Thomas Szapucki's debut last week was rough, but on Thursday he showed why the Giants were so excited to get him in the Darin Ruf-J.D. Davis swap. The lefty came out of the pen and got out of the fifth-inning jam before completing two more innings. He allowed three hits in 2 1/3 and struck out four of the nine batters he faced.
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Szapucki showed good depth on his curveball and hit 97 mph with his four-seamer. It's a repertoire that the Giants believe can work for a bullpen that's lacking left-handed depth, and Thursday was certainly a step in the right direction.
