Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Friday, June 21, 2019

PHOENIX — Just up from Triple-A Sacramento, outfielder Alex Dickerson had little sleep, but wasted little time making an impact on the San Francisco Giants lineup.

In his first game as a Giant, Dickerson cranked a grand slam and a bases-loaded triple, leading San Francisco to an 11-5 NL West win over the Arizona Diamondbacks Friday at Chase Field.

“It was a good feeling,” Dickerson said. “I didn’t get the barrel on the ball the whole time I was there (with San Diego). It’s good to come back, get a good pitch to hit.”

“It’s a long day. I got more sleep for this one than I did in my callups back when I was a rookie. I felt real good the whole day, very well rested. Just added a little travel to it to try and play a baseball game.”

Giants manager Bruce Bochy said, “Wasn’t that impressive? What a day, and what a lift for us. We’re coming off some tough games and looking for some offense early, and he and Pillar, what a show those two put on.”

“(Dickerson) is strong. He’s got a quick bat and it’s good to have him up here to give him a chance.”

“You can’t have a better debut than that.”

Dickerson started the season with San Diego, which designated him for assignment earlier this month after he hit .158 in 12 games. The Padres traded him to San Francisco for prospect Franklin Van Gurp.

“This means a lot, but at the same time, it’s back to business,” Dickerson said. “I want to show that this is the level I want to be at, and it really is business at this point. There’s a little bit of emotion there, but in time, you put that behind you and just be a baseball player.”

The hitting exploits of Dickerson and Kevin Pillar (two-run home run, four RBIs) helped Jeff Samardzija (4-6) grind through six innings to get the win. Samardzija gave up five earned runs on nine hits, struck out five and walked one, but never surrendered the lead.

“There’s mixed emotions about tonight as a whole, but when your teammates pick you up and give you 11 runs, it makes it a whole lot easier to swallow,” Samardzija said. “There was some good and some bad. I was just a little more upset in general with being a little erratic and not very consistent, but I battled and we move on to the next one.”

Dickerson was 3-for-5 with six runs batted in, and fell a double short of hitting for the cycle.

“Pillar set me up great with good a-b’s in front of me, which gave me good pitches to hit,” Dickerson said. “He always had the pitchers on the ropes, and I told myself ‘It’s time to do some damage.'”

“That was impressive,” Samardzija said of Dickerson. “He came in off the bus and went out there and almost hit for the cycle! He had a lot to do with the run support, and he was fun to watch.”

Trailing by six in the bottom of the ninth, the Diamondbacks loaded the bases on Carson Kelly’s double, a walk to Jarrod Dyson and Ildemaro Vargas reached on an infield error.

That prompted a pitching change for the Giants, as closer Will Smith entered the contest. Smith struck out David Peralta and Adam Jones to kill the rally in a non-save situation.

Diamondbacks starter Taylor Clarke (1-3) gave up six earned runs on seven hits in three-plus innings.

San Francisco started the scoring in the top of the second on Kevin Pillar’s ninth home run of the season. Pillar’s drive to left-center drove in Stephen Vogt, who led off the inning with a double.

The Giants extended their lead to 6-0 when Dickerson delivered his first home run of the season, and his second career grand slam.

Arizona found the scoreboard in the third on Ketel Marte’s RBI single, driving in Jerrod Dyson, who reached on a one-out single. Marte limped into first and left the game, replaced by pinch-runner Ildemaro Vargas.

San Francisco loaded the bases when Pablo Sandoval was hit by a pitch, and Clarke issued walks to Brandon Belt and Pillar. Dickerson’s slam landed above the 413-foot mark in right-center.

The Diamondbacks cut San Francisco’s lead to 6-3 in the fourth on Nick Ahmed’s two-run home run, his sixth of the season. Christian Walker led off the inning with a base hit and scored on Ahmed’s opposite-field shot to right-center.

Carson Kelly followed with a double, was sacrificed to third by Clarke, and scored on a base hit by Vargas, cutting the Snakes’ deficit to 6-4. Peralta singled to right, and Adam Jones followed with an RBI single, making it 6-5.

Jones was initially ruled thrown out at second trying to stretch his hit into a double. After a video review, the call on the field was upheld.

San Francisco used a four-run rally in the seventh to build a 10-5 lead. The big hit was Dickerson’s bases-clearing triple. The Giants scored once more in the ninth on Vogt’s RBI double, his second two-bagger of the night, scoring Belt from first.

In the Diamondbacks first, Samardzija allowed a one-out triple to Ketel Marte, followed by a walk to David Peralta. But he struck out Adam Jones and retired Eduardo Escobar on a comebacker to work out of trouble.

“I thought Shark pitched without his best stuff,” Bochy said. “He had tough luck early with some ground balls that got through. But really, the one inning (the fourth) is where he had a hiccup. They got back in the game, but he went back out there and gave us two solid innings, which you want to see.”

On Saturday night, right-hander Tyler Beede (1-2, 6.67 ERA) starts for the Giants. The Diamondbacks have yet to name their starter.

GIANTS JOTTINGS: Diamondbacks 2B Ketel Marte left the game with a left groin cramp and is listed as day-to-day. … The video review on Diamondbacks’ Adam Jones’ RBI single and throw out was 1:57. … Before the game, the Giants announced they claimed OF Joey Rickard off waivers from Baltimore. To make room for Rickard on the 40-man roster, San Francisco RHP Nick Vincent was transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list, and will be optioned to Triple-A Sacramento. … Attendance was announced at 29,312.

TAGS: San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks, Alex Dickerson, Jeff Samardzija, Kevin Pillar,