By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, July 18, 2015

PHOENIX, Arizona – Just by pitching into the seventh inning, Jake Peavy gave San Francisco the quality start it was looking for after Friday’s extra-inning marathon against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Peavy (1-4) not only worked 6 1/3 solid innings for his first win of the season, his first hit since 2013 sparked an early rally that helped the Giants defeat Arizona 8-4 Saturday at Chase Field.

“Better check those stats. I got a double for the Red Sox against Colorado,” Peavy, a career .163 hitter, said proudly. ”That’s the last time I remember being on the bases. It felt good to put the ball in play and start a rally.

“When you play in a National League game, you take every at-bat as seriously as you can take it,” Peavy continued. “When I made the turn for second, I saw that it probably wasn’t a good idea and I almost went too far to get back!

“The pitchers have a little hitting competition with the rest of the team, and I was drafted dead last. But I got a couple of bunts down and got a hit, so I’m excited about being able to contribute a little bit at the plate.”

Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said, “You don’t see me smile much during a game, but (watching Peavy on the base paths) was pretty entertaining, I enjoyed watching the old man (he’s 34) change his mind and scurrying back to first. He looked like a cat the way he was clawing the dirt!”

Peavy, a three-time All-Star and 2007 Cy Young Award winner, gave up four earned runs on eight hits, struck out four and walked one. He gave up solo home runs to David Peralta and Cliff Pennington, but also gave San Francisco a needed quality start after the Giants used 10 pitchers on Friday.

“Jake threw well. I thought he had good stuff,” Bochy said. “He got us into the seventh, which I thought was important after that long game last night. He battled and got a little tired there.”

It was the fifth consecutive win for the Giants, their longest winning streak this season since May 25-29. It was also Peavy’s first win since Sept. 16, 2014, also against Arizona. Peavy missed all of May and June because of lower back strain and hip discomfort.

“Maybe it’ll start rolling downhill and little bit now,” Peavy said. “It’s nice to get that behind you. These last three outings are something to build on, and it’s funny how the game works. You just find a way to get into that win column.”

Buster Posey, who started the game at first base and moved behind the plate in the fifth inning, continued his hot hitting. Posey has hit safely in 16 of his last 17 games, with a .437 average and 22 RBIs during that stretch. Saturday, the three-time All-Star was 3-for-4 with four runs batted in.

“Ideally, I was hoping to give Buster a whole day off from catching,” Bochy said. “He caught over 200 pitches on Friday. But he’s all right. He got somewhat of a break, he’ll catch tomorrow and we’ll see where we’re at when we go to San Diego on Monday.”

At the top of the Giants’ order, Angel Pagan had two hits and a run, Joe Panik had two hits, a walk and two runs, and Matt Duffy had three hits and two runs.

“We’re getting some nice hitting at the top of the order. They’re doing a good job of using the whole field and going the other way,” Bochy said. “That’s what you’re hoping for, the table setters doing their thing by getting on base. Joe’s done it all year, and Duffy too. Those two have played great ball on both sides and they’re finding ways to get on base.”

As they did on Friday, the Diamondbacks took an early lead. David Peralta led off the Arizona second inning with a triple to the left-center field power alley and scored when Chris Owings’ sharp grounder eluded Duffy at third base for an RBI single.

“I felt like I made some good pitches in the third, after giving up that triple in the second,” Peavy said. “You don’t like to give up homers, but that pitch to Peralta was a pretty good pitch. I was pitching in the wrong ballpark to give those kind of hits up.”

San Francisco responded with a four-run rally in the top of the third, sparked by two-run singles by Posey and Brandon Crawford. The Giants followed that with three more runs in the fourth.

Peavy and Angel Pagan opened the Giants’ third with back-to-back singles. After Joe Panik struck out, Duffy singled to load the bases for Posey, who delivered a single to right, scoring Peavy and Pagan. Posey, meanwhile, advanced to second on a throwing error by right fielder Ender Inciarte. With two out, Crawford drove in Duffy and Posey with a single to center.

The Giants extended their lead to 7-1 in the fourth while sending eight hitters to the plate. After Andrew Susac tripled and scored on Angel Pagan’s sacrifice fly to center, Anderson hit Panik with a pitch and Duffy singled. Posey’s RBI single chased Arizona starter Chase Anderson, who was replaced by David Hernandez. Pence’s RBI single, scoring Duffy, closed out the rally.

Anderson (4-4) labored through 3 2/3 innings, giving up seven of San Francisco’s eight earned runs on 10 of the Giants’ 14 hits.

Susac left the game with a sprained right thumb, suffered when he slid awkwardly around the third base bag on his fourth-inning triple. X-rays were negative.

“Going into third, I just went straight into the bag with a weird slide,” Susac said. “It’s just one of those things you don’t think about. It happens. As soon as I hit the bag, (the thumb) was all right and I just wanted to make sure I got back to the base. I stood up and it felt numb and tight. I knew something wasn’t quite right.”

“Right now, it’s looking like Susac might be out a week or 10 days. He sprained it pretty good,” Bochy said. “We’ll have Hector Sanchez ready if we need him.”

Arizona pulled to within 7-2 when catcher Oscar Hernandez got his first major league hit, a double in the fifth inning off Peavy, and scored on Inciarte’s base hit to right. Inciarte led the D-Backs with three hits.

Josh Collmenter, the third Diamondbacks pitcher, breezed through the fifth inning but dug a huge hole for himself in the sixth, walking Panik, Posey and Pence to load the bases with two out. But the potential rally ended when Crawford grounded out to second.

Peralta led off the D-Backs sixth with his ninth home run of the season, just clearing the left field fence near the 376-foot marker. In the Arizona seventh, pinch-hitter Cliff Pennington hit his first homer of the season to the right field pavilion, cutting the Giants’ lead to 7-4 and chasing Peavy in the process.

“The pitch to Pennington was a mistake too,” Peavy said. “But we got through it, the boys swung the bats, played great defense. It’s great to win the weekend series and still have our guy (Madison Bumgarner) come out tomorrow with a chance to sweep these guys.”

San Francisco tacked on another run in the eighth when Panik singled and scored on Posey’s third hit of the game. The Giants’ bullpen crew of Hunter Strickland, Josh Osich and Sergio Romo held the Diamondbacks scoreless over the final 2 2/3 innings.

“Getting that last run was big,” Bochy said. “That allowed us to use the bullpen a little different.

Romo, the Giants’ former closer and primary setup man, picked up his first save of the season.

GIANT JOTTINGS: When San Francisco used 10 pitchers in Friday’s win, it tied the franchise record, and it was the most hurlers used by the Giants in a game with a 25-man roster. The Giants used 11 pitchers on Sept. 4, 2012, against Arizona with an expanded roster. … Starting pitchers for the series finale are lefthanders Madison Bumgarner (9-5, 3.33) for San Francisco and Patrick Corbin (1-1, 5.40) for the D-Backs. Game time Is 1:10 p.m. … This report is dedicated to the memory of George Devine Sr., a friend, and a valued and respected colleague at Sports Radio Service, who passed away this week at 74.