San Francisco Giants second baseman Thairo Estrada, left, turns a double play while avoiding Arizona Diamondbacks’ Christian Walker, right, on a ball hit by Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in the first inning  at Chase Field in Phoenix on Sun May 14, 2023 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Sunday, May 14, 2023

PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Mother’s Day crowd at Chase Field was treated to a new age pitching duel that involved a combined total of seven hits surrendered by six pitchers. In the end, it was Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s run-scoring double in the bottom of the ninth that gave Arizona its third win in a row over the San Francisco Giants Sunday.

The win pulled the Diamondbacks (24-18) to within 2 ½ games of the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West, while fourth-place San Francisco (17-23) is 8 ½ games off the pace.

In the Diamondbacks ninth, Christian Walker drew a walk from Giants reliever Tyler Walker (0-3) to lead off the inning, then Gurriel doubled down the left-field line, and, as the ball rattled around by the bullpen, a hustling Walker scored the game-winning run from first base.

“We generally play our defenders to the most likely spot the ball is going to be hit, based on spray charts,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “Sabol did everything he could to hit the cutoff man and have a play at the plate, but we weren’t able to convert.”

Gurriel’s 21st run batted in of the season made Miguel Castro (2-1) the winning pitcher. Castro, the fourth Diamondbacks hurler, retired the Giants in order in the top of the ninth, striking out Blake Sabol and Casey Schmitt in the process.

Diamondbacks starter Brandon Pfaadt struck out the side in the first inning and retired 11 of the first 12 hitters he faced until surrendering a solo home run to Michael Conforto in the fourth inning. It was Conforto’s seventh home run of the season.

Pfaadt, a fifth-round pick from Bellarmine University in 2020, struck out five, walked three and gave up only one hit – the home run by Conforto – in his five innings. Jose Ruiz worked the next two innings, striking out four without a walk, and Scott McGough threw a scoreless eighth.

“I just wanted to go out there and trust myself,” Pfaadt said. “That’s what we did today. Hopefully, we can get rolling after this.”

Arizona tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out RBI double down the right field line by Josh Rojas. Geraldo Perdomo, who reached on a fielder’s choice, scored from first.

Logan Webb gave the Giants a quality start, giving uo one earned run on three hits and three walks with three strikeouts in seven innings, while throwing 98 pitches. Tyler Rogers retired Arizona in order in the eighth before facing Walker and Gurriel in the ninth.

Webb worked out of an early jam in the first inning. After Ketel Marte was hit by a pitch with one out, walks to Corbin Carroll and Christian Walker loaded the bases. But Gurriel hit into an inning-ending double play.

The Giants return home Monday to start a three-game series with Philadelphia. Alex Wood (0-0, 2.45) will start Monday’s game for the Giants and Alex Cobb (3-1, 1.70) starts on Tuesday. No probable starter has been announced for the Wednesday contest.

GIANTS JOTTINGS: INF Brandon Crawford was activated from the 10-day injured list following Saturday’s game; INF David Villar was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento and RHP Luke Jackson was placed on a rehab assignment with Single-A San Jose. … Beofre going 0-for-4 on Sunday, INF Casey Schmitt hit safely in his first five games in MLB, batting .550 (two home runs, five runs batted in, 1.550 OPS). Schmitt’s 11 hits in his first five games is second-best in Giants history (since 1901), trailing only Jim Davenport with 12 in 1958, the Giants’ first season in San Francisco. … The Giants can become the first MLB franchise to reach 11,500 wins (including playoffs) with their next win. .,. San Francisco has hit 61 home runs through its first 38 games, third-best in MLB behind Tampa Bay (80) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (67). … The roof was closed on Sunday at Chase Field. Game time temperature was 97 degrees outside, 74 degrees inside. … The announced attendance was 26,267; time of game was 2 hours and 24 minutes.