San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Giants’ Williamson and company lacking the hits

Photo credit: @NBCSGiants

On the Giants podcast with Miguel:

#1 What’s off with the Giants’ Mac Williamson swing? He was striking out five times on Thursday afternoon against the Atlanta Braves

#2 Five times they needed that bat of Williamson to make hay in a one-run loss that went 13 innings.

#3 Williamson is trying to make this club and be a main stay. We ask Michael is this a temporary hang up or something that needs a quick fix?

#4 Another bat out of the Giants’ lineup: shortstop Brandon Crawford, who missed Thursday night’s contest due to pink eye.

#5 The Giants opened a three-game series on Friday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks started Robbie Ray (3-1) and the Giants went with Drew Pomeranz (1-4)

Michael does the Giants podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips and Michael Duca: By trade deadline, you can expect a lot of changes to come to the Giants

photo from nbcsports.com: San Francisco Giants pitcher Shaun Anderson during his second major league outing last Tuesday at Oracle Park. Anderson pitched five innings and gave up eight hits and two runs.

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips and Michael Duca:

The San Francisco Giants are everything you would have expected them to be the way the pitching staff has been going were not sure if manager Bruce Bochy could name the five man starting rotation. The Giants are playing to the trade deadline, you can expect a lot of changes to come to this team.

On Tuesday night, for the 27th time in their entire history, they came from behind for a win in the ninth inning and there were 12,000 more people in the ballpark than usual. The Giants were 21-27 after their loss on Wednesday night at Oracle Park. The Giants are desperate for runs they have won eight of their last 10 wins by one run and 13 of 21 wins of one run.

Michael and Morris do the Giants podcasts weekly at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Well Worth the Wait: Braves take first lead in the 13th, beat the Giants 5-4

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — The list of youthful sluggers that have raked in their Oracle Park debuts is growing lengthier.

Yandy Diaz, Gleyber Torres, Aaron Senzel, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and now Austin Riley have all had big games. Consequently,  the Giants win-loss record is suffering.

Riley capped his first trip to San Francisco as a big leaguer with a two-run, game-tying home run in the eighth inning, then topped himself with the game-winning base hit in the 13th inning of the Braves’ 5-4 victory over the Giants.

The homer was Riley’s third in the series, and his fifth in his first eight, big league games. That second feat makes the slugger the fastest to hit his fifth home run in the history of the Braves franchise.

“To be able to do that is an honor,” Riley said. “The last hit was even more special to me because it put the team ahead and got the job done.”

Getting the job done in Riley’s case required driving Reyes Moronta’s 97 mph offering into the right field corner with a swing that was executed with Riley lunging and off balance. That came with two outs, and scored Darby Swanson, running at Moronta’s release, and scoring from first base.

That effectively ended the Giants’ afternoon in which they held 2-0 and 4-2 leads but couldn’t close the door. Adding to their frustration, Madison Bumgarner’s impressive, six innings of work was squandered. The Giants’ ace departed in line for the win.

“We just couldn’t get the bats going later on against their bullpen,” said manager Bruce Bochy.

While Riley showed off a natural swing that belied his age and experience, the Giants flailed. After pinch hitter Tyler Austin homered in the seventh to give the Giants’ a two-run cushion, the home team went scoreless over the final six frames. But more disturbing than the zeros was the quality of the at-bats.

In the eighth, with a runner on, Kevin Pillar and Mac Williamson fanned to end the inning. In the ninth, with two runners aboard, Buster Posey hit a chopper to the third on the first pitch. Pablo Sandoval got his opportunity as a pinch hitter in the ninth, and struck out on a pitch in the dirt.

Continuing the theme, Evan Longoria struck out in the 13th without unleashing a swing, and Williamson fanned five times, prompting questions after the game.

“We’ll talk about it,” Bochy said. “It was a rough day for Mac. I know he’s probably pressing… I can’t say probably. That’s a tough day there. So anyway, we’ll huddle up and see what we can do to add some offense here.”

The Giants open a three-game set with the Diamondbacks on Friday at Oracle Park.

Giants wiped out by nightmarish, second inning in 9-2 loss to the Braves

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — Jeff Samardzija threw 107 pitches Wednesday and didn’t allow any earned runs. Not bad.

No, not good. The pitcher’s throwing error that wasn’t turned out to be the portal to a Braves’ six-run, second inning that wiped out the Giants in a flash. Simply, the key juncture in a 9-2 loss that serves as a reminder that these days suffering outweighs prosperity inside the ballpark at 2nd and King streets.

“There are a lot of great things about these shifts but sometimes it does take guys out of the double play position. That’s kind of what happened. It was just a freak thing,” said Samardzija of his gaffe.

With a runner on, and one out, Ozzie Albies hit a grounder that Samardzija fielded with his infielder behind him in a shift, three defenders stationed between first and second base.

Well, shifts are designed to get batters out, not necessarily the best strategy to turn two. So when Samardzija looked to start a double play, he turned to see his experienced third baseman (Evan Longoria) and shortstop (Brandon Crawford) unsure of who would take the pitcher’s throw at second then throw into first. Both infielders froze, Samardzija threw accurately to Longoria, who was nowhere near the bag to retire the advancing Austin Riley.

Both runners were safe on a play that scorekeepers expect to yield an inning-ending double play, saddling the Samardzija with the error, eventhough he threw accurately. Matt Joyce singled to load the bases, then pitcher Max Fried grounded out, scoring Riley.

Ronald Acuna then struck out, but catcher Buster Posey couldn’t corral the wild pitch allowing Acuna to reach. Back-to-back home runs by Darby Swanson and Freddie Freeman were next, and the Braves led 6-0.

Fried, like Mike Soroka who pitched for Atlanta on Monday, has an All-Star resume and presented to the Giants over a six-inning stint. The 25-year old won for a league-leading seventh time, allowing just two runs.

“I didn’t throw strikes as much as I would have liked, but I was obviously picked up big time,” said Fried, who improved to 7-2. “The offense was incredible. It was just a good team win.”

The Braves look to make it three of four over the Giants in Thursday’s matinee finale. Madison Bumgarner will face the Braves’ Kevin Gausman at 12:45 pm.

Panik’s walk-off gives Giants huge 4-3 win

Orovillemr.com photo: San Francisco Giants’ Joe Panik watches his two-run single in front of Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann during the ninth inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Tuesday, May 21, 2019. The Giants won 4-3.

By Jeremy Kahn

SAN FRANCISCO — Down to his last strike on multiple occasions, Joe Panik came up huge in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Panik slapped a single to right field off of Luke Jackson that scored Kevin Pillar and Mac Williamson, as the San Francisco Giants came back from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Atlanta Braves 4-3 before a crowd of just 28,030 at Oracle Park.

This was the second walk-off of the season for the Giants, and the second this month, as Buster Posey hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 1.

As for Panik, this was his second career walk-off hit and first since May 1, 2015 against the Los Angeles Angels.

Jackson came on in the bottom of the ninth inning, as he looked for his team-high seventh save of the season; however, in the end it did not happen.

The closer got Evan Longoria to ground out for the first out of the inning, but Brandon Crawford singled to left, then Jackson got Steven Duggar to strike out for the second out of the inning and then Crawford advanced an additional 90 feet on defensive indifference.

Pillar then cut the Braves lead down to one, as he singled in Crawford and then Pablo Sandoval came to the plate. Pillar then stole second to get into scoring position that setup Sandoval for the possible game-tying hit.

Sandoval hit a ball into the hole at third base that Josh Donaldson dove and kept the ball from going into left field that would have tied up the game, and Pillar stayed at third base. Williamson came on to pinch run for Sandoval, and stole second that setup Paniks heroics.

Panik fell behind 0-2 and then the count went to 3-2, and finally on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, Panik hit a 95 mile per hour into right field that scored both Pillar and Williamson to give the Giants an improbable victory.

The Braves got on the board in the first inning, as Dansby Swanson singled and eventually scored on a Nick Markakis double to left field.

Panik got the Giants rally started in the bottom of the first inning, as he singled off of Braves starter Julio Teheran, he went to second on a Buster Posey single and then over to third on a Brandon Belt fly ball to left field. Evan Longoria then tied up the game, as he doubled to left field to easily score Panik from third base; however, the rally ended, when Crawford struck out to end the inning.

Both Teheran and rookie Shawn Anderson matched each other inning for inning until the Braves finally got to Anderson in the top of the sixth inning and chased the rookie, who was making just his second major league start.

Donaldson and Markakis ended Andersons night, as they hit back-to-back singles in the top of the sixth inning and that brought on Reyes Moronta, who got Austin Riley to fly out to Duggar in centerfield; however, both Donaldson and Markakis advanced an additional 90 feet. Brian McCann broke up the tie, as he hit a sacrifice fly to Stephen Vogt in left field.

Freddie Freeman extended the Braves up to two runs in the top of the seventh inning, as he hit an opposite field single that scored Ronald Acuna, Jr., who walked with one out in the inning and went to second on a Swanson walk.

Acuna made a huge defensive play in the bottom of the third inning, as he robbed Brandon Belt of a solo home run.

If people that thought Acunas plat was huge, Crawford also came up with two huge defensive plays of his own.

The shortstop snared a Freeman line drive in the top of the third inning that looked like it was going into left field, but Crawford caught the ball to rob Freeman of a base hit.

Crawford came up huge on the defense again in the top of the ninth inning, as Acuna attempted to steal second base and was originally called safe; however, replays showed that Crawford applied the tag on the foot and the umpires went to replay and after a 44-second review, it was determined that Acuna was indeed out.

Paniks two-run walk-off base hit gave the win to Trevor Gott, who is 2-0 on the season, while Jackson falls to 2-1.

Anderson, who was making his second start of his career, went five innings, allowing two runs on eight hits, not walking a batter and striking out three, as he did not fare in the decision.

The veteran Teheran went 5.2 innings, allowing just one run on three hits, walking three and striking out six.

Once again, the Giants helped out, as they went the final four innings, allowing one run on three hits, walking three and striking out two.

NOTES: Vogt started in left for just the second time in his major-league career, and it was his fifth appearance in left field and 17 in right field. Vogt last played in the outfield in 2017.

Sandoval picked up his 10th pinch-hit of the season, and is now 10-for-25 as a pinch-hitter this season.
In 16 career games against the Giants, Donaldson is 21-for-60, a .350 clip with seven extra base hits.

Acuna, who hit two home runs in the series opener on Monday night, has reached base in seven of his 10 plate appearances in the series, as he has walked twice and picked up five hits.

UP NEXT: Jeff Samardzija looks for his third win of the season, as he takes the mound on Wednesday night for the Giants, while left-hander Max Fried looks to raise his record to 7-2 on the season, as he toes the rubber for the Braves.

Youth Is Served: Acuna and Soroka lead the way in Braves’ 4-1 win over the Giants

By Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO — Gotta start somewhere, right?

Ok, the first inning: the Giants have failed to start ballgames with any force, now a season-long theme. And the Braves’ Ronald Acuna is fast becoming a leadoff hitting, first inning sensation.

Both trends were at work on Monday with the Braves powering past the Giants 4-1 at Oracle Park in the opener of a four-game series.

Acuna greeted Andrew Suarez in his season debut with a leadoff homer–the first of two on the evening for the Braves’ young star–and Mike Soroka mowed down Giants’ hitters for eight innings in the visitors’ eighth win in their last 10 games.

The Giants first of two hits on the evening didn’t transpire until the sixth, when Brandon Crawford homered off Soroka. They’ve been outscored 47-7 in the first inning in 2019, and Giants’ opponents are hitting a robust .304 in the frame.

Acuna doesn’t need a particular spot in the batting order to be productive. The 21-year old Venezuelan has his career on a superstar track with 37 home runs and 95 RBI in his first 168 games. But he prefers leadoff, and it shows. He’s hit .400 batting leadoff in the 10 games of the Braves’ current streak, and he’s started each of the last two with homers.

“It changes the way you play for the rest of the game,” Acuna said, sounding poetic through the translation of Franco Garcia. “Because the adrenaline kicks in.”

“He’s a different guy there. We tried (having Acuna bat cleanup), and I think it probably would’ve worked, but there’s just something about that spot that he comes alive,” said Braves’ manager Brian Snitker.

Acuna doubled down in the seventh with a solo shot off Nick Vincent. 22-year old Austin Riley homered in the sixth off Suarez, the third home run in Riley’s first six games as a major leaguer.

Suarez pitched well, allowing three runs in six innings, striking out five and walking four. But as manager Bruce Bochy noted, the home runs were the difference in winning or losing.

“He lost Markakis and then had the next hitter (Riley) 0-2 and just hung a breaking ball. He gave us a chance to win the game, but offensively, we just got completely shut down,” Bochy said.

Soroka cruised, retiring the first 15 batters he faced. The 21-year old Alabaman is 5-1 in seven starts after striking out seven, walking none in eight innings of work. He covered the stint in 94 pitches, starting 18 of 26 batters he faced with strikes.

Soroka’s yet to allow more than a run in any of his seven starts. Crawford’s home run cost him statistically: he saw his ERA soar to 1.01.

“He’s one of those guys, you don’t know if he’s five up, five down or what the score is,” Snitker said. “He just keeps pitching and making pitches.”

Shaun Anderson makes his second start on Tuesday. He’ll be opposed by Atlanta’s Julio Teheran in the 6:45 pm start.

San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips: Panda takes D-Backs deep in 10th inning for gamer 3-2

Photo credit: nbcbayarea.com

On the San Francisco Giants podcast with Morris Phillips:

#1 San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval can do it all, play all positions on the diamond, including pitch, but on Sunday at Chase Field in Phoenix Sandoval was clutch and got a game-winning 10th inning homer for the Giants in their 3-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

#2  Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford contributed with a game saving defensive stop in the ninth inning. The D-Backs Adam Jones hit a ball to Crawford’s right who dove to stop and get up and fire the ball to first base to retire Jones and strand a runner at third.

#3 On Sandoval, he has had a great series against the D-Backs. He hit an eighth inning home run on Saturday to help the Giants in their 8-5 win. Sandoval hit one against the D-Backs pitcher Yoshihisa Hirano to left field for his 40th home run at Chase the most of any opposing hitter to visit that park.

#4 Giants reliever Will Smith is coming along. He picked up his 11th save in 11 outings certainly the go-to to close games for manager Bruce Bochy.

#5 Giants are back at Oracle Park on Monday night to face a very tough Atlanta Braves club. The Braves will start Mike Soroka (4-1, 0.98 ERA) the Giants will start Andrew Suarez (0-0, 0.00 ERA).

Morris Phillips does the Giants podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Panda’s 10th inning blast lifts Giants over D-Backs 3-2

Photo credit: @sfgiants_fanly

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, May 19, 2019

PHOENIX — The Panda strikes again.

For the second time in two games, Pablo Sandoval came off the San Francisco bench and delivered a pinch-hit home run. His homer on Sunday came in the top of the 10th inning, giving the Giants a 3-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Sandoval, pinch-hitting for reliever Sam Dyson, drove a Yoshihisa Hirano fastball into the left field seats just above the 388-foot marker, breaking a 2-2 deadlock.

“You’ve got to be prepared, and be ready to hit in any situation,” Sandoval said. “Then, take advantage of the situation. (Hirano) was doing a good job with his sequence of pitches. He threw a fastball away, and I was thinking fastball.”

Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said, “It’s amazing what he’s been doing, and with two strikes. It happened for him again!

“It’s incredible what Pablo’s done for us off the bench, and he sure delivered again in a big way.”

Will Smith came on with one out in the bottom of the 10th to record his 12th save, striking out Eduardo Escobar and David Peralta.

Before any of that could happen, the Diamondbacks had an opportunity to win the game in the ninth when Nick Ahmed led off with a walk and was sacrificed to second and moved to third when Blake Swihart was ruled out at first after a replay review of his grounder to short.

On Adam Jones’ sharp grounder just to the left of second base, shortstop Brandon Crawford’s throw to Brandon Belt just beat Jones at first, forcing extra innings.

“That was an unbelievable play,” Sandoval said. “If we don’t make that play, they win.”

The Giants took two out of the three weekend games at Chase Field, which had the roof open all three days.

San Francisco took a 2-0 lead in the third inning off Diamondbacks starter Robbie Ray. Joe Panik and Donovan Solano hit back-to-back singles, followed by a walk to Tyler Austin to load the bases. Evan Longoria drew an RBI walk and Kevin Pillar followed with an RBI groundout to first.

The Diamondbacks tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth. Peralta reached on an infield single, followed by a walk to Christian Walker. Nick Ahmed’s ground rule double down the right field line drove in Peralta.

A wild pitch during John Ryan Murphy’s at-bat allowed Walker to score and Ahmed to advance to third.

Drew Pomerantz started for San Francisco, going 4 2/3 innings, giving up both Arizona runs, striking out two and issuing five walks. Dyson (2-0) threw a scoreless ninth to get the win; the Giants bullpen held the D-Backs scoreless over the final 5 1/3 innings.

Hirano (1-2) was the sixth Diamondback pitcher in the game.

The Giants improved to 19-25 and return home to start a four-game series against Atlanta. Monday’s starter has yet to be announced, but San Francisco’s probables for the other three games are Shaun Anderson (0-0) on Tuesday, Jeff Samardzija (2-2) on Wednesday and Madison Bumgarner (3-4) on Thursday.

GIANT JOTTINGS: Sandoval’s pinch-homer was the third of his career. The first one came last season in Philadelphia. … The replay review time in the ninth inning of Blake Swihart’s ground out was 1:21. … D-Backs OF Wilmer Flores left the game with a right foot contusion. … Attendance was 24,061.

Giants use 11-hit attack to hold off Snakes

Photo credit: @SFGiants

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Saturday, May 18, 2019

PHOENIX — In 24 hours, things changed for the better offensively for the San Francisco Giants.

On Friday, the Giants couldn’t get a key hit when needed. On Saturday, it was key hits to spare.

San Francisco’s 11-hit attack was backed a strong start from Madison Bumgarner, as the Giants defeated Arizona 8-5.

Seven different Giants drove in runs, led by Brandon Crawford with two. Steven Duggar, Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Evan Longoria, Mac Williamson and Pablo Sandoval each knocked in a run.

“You could really see the difference tonight,” Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. “The hitters were doing a nice job of getting on base. We had a lot of big hits, extra-base hits, and we did the little things well.”

Bumgarner (3-4) worked 61/3 innings, giving up three runs on five hits. He struck out six and walked three.

“I thought he threw real good,” Bochy said. “His stuff was good. And with that lineup in this ballpark, a really nice job. And he had good command of his pitches all night.

Longoria’s two-out hit in the first inning drove in Joe Panik, who led off the game with an infield single. The Giants rallied for three runs in the third, with Duggar’s RBI triple, Posey’s run-scoring single and a sacrifice fly to center by Crawford the key blows giving San Francisco a 4-0 lead.

Eduardo Escobar’s 10th home run of the season into the left field seats put the Diamondbacks on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Arizona cut the Giants’ lead to 4-2 in the fifth when Adam Jones singled in Blake Swihart, who led off the inning with a walk.

San Francisco pushed two more runs across in the sixth on an RBI triple by Crawford, who scored two batters later on a single by Williamson.

The Diamondbacks chased Bumgarner in the bottom of the seventh after Nick Ahmed walked and scored from second on pinch-hitter John Ryan Murphy’s double down the left field line.

Adam Jones drove in Carson Kelly (who walked) with a ground out off San Francisco reliever Sam Dyson, pulling Arizona to within 6-4. But with two out in the San Francisco eighth, Sandoval — pinch-hitting for Dyson — hit a solo home run, giving the Giants a 7-4 lead.

“How about Pablo, huh?” Bochy said. “It’s nice to start him, and it’s nice to bring him off the bench to pinch-hit. He’s been the silver lining through our struggles.”

San Francisco extended its lead in the ninth to 8-4 when Brandon Belt’s seventh home run of the season reached the swimming pool in right-center.

Arizona closed its deficit to three when Carson Kelly hit a solo home run in the ninth, but closer Will Smith struck out Alex Avila, Adam Jones and Ketel Marte in what became a non-save situation.

In Sunday afternoon’s series finale, Robbie Ray (3-1, 3.14) starts for the Diamondbacks. San Francisco has yet to announce its starter.

GIANT JOTTINGS: Sandoval’s pinch home run in the eighth inning was the second of his career. The first came on May 8, 2018, at Philadelphia. … Gi Belt’s ninth-inning homer into the Chase Field swimming pool was the second overall of the season. Ex-Giant Hunter Pence hit one earlier this season for Texas. … D-Backs OF Adam Jones has hit safely in his last seven games. … Giants 2B Joe Panik has a streak of reaching base safely in 16 straight games, by hit or walk. … The attendance at Chase Field on Saturday was 25,014; Friday’s attendance was 26,806.

TAGS: San Francisco Giants, Arizona Diamondbacks, Madison Bumgarner, Pablo Sandoval, Brandon Belt, Steven Duggar, Sports Radio Service

Diamondbacks blank Giants behind timely hitting

Photo credit: @Dbacks

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Friday, May 17, 2019

PHOENIX — It was Game of Thrones Night Friday at Chase Field, pitting Team Giant vs. Team Diamondback.

Team Diamondback got timely hits when necessary, while Team Giant did not.

David Peralta’s fourth-inning home run, followed by two extended rallies, gave Arizona a 7-0 NL West win over visiting San Francisco.

The Giants stranded 10 baserunners.

“We just didn’t get that big hit when we had runners out there,” Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said of his team’s scoring chances in the second, third, sixth, seventh and eighth innings. “We tried to get things rolling and just didn’t get it tonight.”

With one out in the Arizona fourth inning, David Peralta broke up the scoreless deadlock with a home run to left-center, just left of the 413-foot marker. It was Peralta’s seventh homer of the season.

San Francisco loaded the bases with one out in the sixth on consecutive singles by Buster Posey and Brandon Belt and a walk to Pablo Sandoval, but Arizona reliever Yoshihisa Hirano replaced starter Merrill Kelly (4-4), struck out Brandon Crawford, and Kevin Pillar flied out to right.

The Diamondbacks added two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Jarrod Dyson walked and scored two batters later on Adam Jones’ double down the left-field line off San Francisco starter Jeff Samardzija.

“(Samardzija’s) been one of the top pitchers for a long time,” Jones, who was 3-for-4 with an RBI, said. “So, when you get an opportunity to score off of them, you have to. Same thing tomorrow night against (Madison) Bumgarner. They’re very stingy with runs.”

Ketel Marte then greeted Giants reliever Reyes Moronta with a broken-bat infield single, driving in David Peralta, who was intentionally walked prior to the double by Jones.

Samardzija (2-2) gave up three earned runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings, didn’t strike out anybody, and issued three walks.

“Shark threw well,” Bochy said. “He kept us in the game and gave us a chance. He had good command and was doing a nice job. He gave up that walk (to Dyson) right before the big hit by Jones and he’d like to have that one back.”

Arizona tacked on four more runs in the seventh off reliever Derek Holland after loading the bases. After Alex Avila walked, pinch-hitter Wilmer Flores singled and Dyson was hit by a pitch, Eduardo Escobar delivered a three-run triple. Peralta followed with an run batted in when he reached on an error by Belt at first.

In between the Dyson and Peralta at-bats, Bochy was ejected for the third time this season following an argument with home plate umpire Andy Fletcher.

“You can’t argue a check-swing,” Bochy explained about his 77th career ejection. “

Kelly struck out four and walked one while giving up six hits in 5 1/3 innings.

“I’ve been very impressed with him,” Jones said of Kelly, who pitched in the Korean League for four years before joining the D-Backs this season. “He knows how to use his defense, works fast and throws strikes.”

Joe Panik was 2-for-4 with two doubles for San Francisco. Posey and Belt each collected two hits.

Madison Bumgarner (2-4, 4.04 ERA) is on the hill for the Giants on Saturday, while the Diamondbacks have yet to announce their starters for either Saturday or Sunday.

GIANT JOTTINGS: Giants C Buster Posey was activated prior to the game from the concussion injured list. Posey had missed San Francisco’s last six games after taking a foul tip off his mask on May 5 in Cincinnati. … Fox Sports Arizona took a moment to wish a happy 71st birthday to former White Sox 1B Carlos May, the only MLB player in history to wear his birthday on the back of his jersey.