Arizona Diamondbacks’ Paul Goldschmidt (44) follows through on a single after knocking the glove off of San Francisco Giants catcher Nick Hundley, left, during the first inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 25, 2017, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Friday, August 25, 2017

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Paul Goldschmidt demonstrated again Friday night why he’s a solid contender for National League Most Valuable Player.

Goldy, as depicted on the back of his special Players Weekend jersey, cracked a three-run home run on his first at-bat of the game, giving Arizona a permanent lead en route to a 4-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

The Diamondbacks (71-58) have a 1 1/2-game lead over Colorado for the top NL Wild Card berth, and a 4 1/2-game lead over Milwaukee.

Zach Greinke did his part. The D-Backs’ ace won his National League-leading 15th game of the season, logging four strikeouts without a walk and two earned runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings.

The Diamondbacks bullpen crew of Jorge De La Rosa, Archie Bradley and Fernando Rodney finished the game with 2 1/3 scoreless innings on one hit. Rodney notched his 31st save.

“Greinke’s been a big part of the Diamondbacks’ turnaround,” Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. “Their starters are doing a good job and that’s why they’re in the thick of things.”

San Francisco scored first with an erratic sequence in the second inning off Greinke. With one out, Brandon Crawford singled, moved to second on Pablo Sandoval’s base hit, and was picked off trying to steal third.

“It looked like Craw read something; we didn’t have anything on,” Bochy said. “He’s one of our better baserunners. I guess he felt Greinke was getting into some sort of pattern and guessed wrong. Greinke has pretty good game awareness. He smelled it and got him.”

Sandoval scored from first base on Nick Hundley’s double to the left-center field gap, but Hundley was thrown out after reconsidering his decision to advance to third, ending the inning.

The Diamondbacks surged ahead in the bottom of the third, scoring four runs while sending eight hitters to the plate against San Francisco starter Ty Blach (8-10). Goldschmidt delivered the key hit – a three-run homer, well past the 376-foot marker in left, to put Arizona ahead 4-1.

“(Goldschmidt) got a good pitch and took advantage of it. He kind of muscled it out,” Bochy said. “You try not to have guys on base when he’s coming up there. But the way the inning started, that became a tough inning for Blach.”

Arizona tied the game with David Peralta singled with one out, moved to third when Chris Iannetta singled to center and took second on an error by Denard Span. After Peralta scored on A.J. Pollock’s base hit, Goldschmidt followed with his 30th home run, also reaching 100 RBIs for the season.

Blach gave up four earned runs on six hits in five innings. He struck out two and walked two. Albert Saurez, Josh Osich, Kyle Crick and Cory Gearrin shut the D-Backs out over the last four innings.

“Blach threw pretty well, he was hitting his spots,” Bochy said. “He’s had two of three games where we just have not played our best ball behind him. He’s had some tough luck. But he’s young; he’s learning.”

The Giants cut Arizona’s lead to 4-2 in the fifth, when Brandon Crawford doubled, moved to third on a Sandoval single, and scored as Hundley grounded into a fielder’s choice.

San Francisco pulled to within 4-3 in the seventh when Brandon Crawford doubled and scored on a throwing error by D-Backs shortstop Ketel Marte. Jorge De La Rosa then replaced Greinke and struck out Joe Panik, ending the threat.

“We had some good at-bats, but we just couldn’t finish off those opportunities,” Bochy said.

Crawford continued his hot hitting, going 3-for-4 while scoring two of the San Francisco runs. Sandoval was 2-for-4, raising his average to .288 since returning to the Giants.

“(Crawford) has been swinging it well,” Bochy said. “We need to get some guys on base for him.”

Peralta, Iannetta and Goldschmidt each collected two hits for Arizona.

On Saturday, Giants lefthander Madison Bumgarner (3-5, 2.87) faces Arizona righthander Taijuan Walker (6-7, 3.66) in a 5:10 p.m. start.

GIANTS JOTTINGS: Prior to the game, the Giants activated INF Joe Panik from the seven-day disabled list (concussion). Panik was 0-for-5 in a rehab stint at Triple-A Sacramento and Single-A San Jose. … Paul Goldschmidt is the first player in Diamondbacks history to have three 30-home run, 100-RBI seasons. … Attendance at Chase Field was 31,924. … Both teams were sporting the special nickname jerseys being worn throughout MLB. Names and numbers both difficult to pick up. … This was the first game of a six-game road trip for the Giants.

TAGS: Sports Radio Service,San Francisco Giants,Arizona Diamondbacks,NL West Wild Card