Photo credit: @SFGiants
By Daniel Dullum
PHOENIX, Ariz. – Starting pitchers Madison Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks’ Zach Grienke each threw well enough to win in a much-anticipated Thursday night pitching duel at Chase Field.
As he’s done in the past, it was Bumgarner’s bat that helped himself, and the Giants to an 8-1 win – sparked by a five-run eighth inning rally – that keeps San Francisco’s dim National League playoff hopes alive.
Bumgarner (4-4) also worked out of bases-loaded jams in the first two innings. He gave up one earned run on seven hits, struck out five, and walked three over his five innings.
“This was one of those games where it felt like we had our backs against the wall the whole time I was out there,” Bumgarner said. “Obviously, that’s not the way I wanted to draw it up and wound up working twice as hard in five innings.
“But those types of games are gratifying to keep your team in it. It seemed like (Arizona) had guys in scoring position every inning I was out there,” he added. “I just had to grind it out, make pitches and don’t give in.”
Giants manager Bruce Bochy said, “What a great job (Bumgarner) did. He did a great job of keeping them at bay in a one-run game. They had guys on base every inning and he found a way to work out of it. He didn’t give in.”
“That’s a hard night’s work – over 100 pitches in five innings. And it was hot out there (83 degrees inside), even though we were indoors.”
The Giants’ bullpen – Mark Melancon, Ray Black and Ty Blach retired 12 of the last 15 Arizona hitters over the last four innings.
“I like Ray Black’s poise out there,” Bochy said. “Here’s a young kid that gets called up and has a rough outing his first game, but he bounced back and he’s been solid. He’s pitching with a lot of confidence.”
The Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers entered Thursday’s play tied for first in the NL West, one game ahead of third-place Colorado and five ahead of the fourth-place Giants.
The Dodgers thumped Milwaukee 21-5, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies 6-3, moving Los Angeles into first place, one game ahead of Arizona and five games ahead of the Giants.
Buster Posey, Gorkys Hernandez and Austin Slater each collected two hits in the Giants’ 11-hit attack.
San Francisco surged ahead to stay at 2-1 in the top of the fourth when Austin Slater doubled and scored on Bumgarner’s single to left.
“I just didn’t want to strike out,” Bumgarner said.
Hunter Pence’s pinch-hit sacrifice fly to center in the sixth drove in Slater, extending the Giants’ lead to 3-1. Slater walked, went to second on a wild pickoff throw by Diamondbacks reliever Jake Diekman and to third on a wild pitch on a walk to Steven Duggar.
San Francisco broke the game open with a five-run rally, batting around in the eighth. Posey led off with a double, followed by a one-out intentional walk to Brandon Crawford and back-to-back singles by Hernandez and Alen Hanson, chasing Arizona’s newly re-acquired reliever Brad Ziegler.
Slater added a two-RBI single that also allowed Hanson to score on an error. Duggar followed with a run-scoring single, as San Francisco sent 10 batters to the plate, finishing the inning with an 8-1 lead.
“It was good to get that big inning,” Bochy said. “We got some big hits from guys as we want to use them.”
Evan Longoria’s two-out solo home run down the left-field line – just inside the foul pole – put the Giants up 1-0 in the top of the first inning. It was Longoria’s first home run since hitting two on May 29 at Colorado.
Arizona loaded the bases against Bumgarner in the bottom of the first with a leadoff double by David Peralta, followed by walks to Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock. But Steven Souza lined out to Longoria at third for the second out and Nick Ahmed grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.
“(Longoria) really saved us with that play he made,” Bochy said. “That stops a rally, and if that ball gets through, they get momentum going. And with that home run, it was good to get on the board early facing the Pitcher of the Month. Grienke’s been throwing the ball so well, and we found a way to scratch and claw to get a couple of runs.”
Bumgarner also struggled in the second inning. After Ketel Marte walked, he advanced to second when Bumgarner balked on a pickoff throw. One out later, Grienke’s line drive eluded Longoria, allowing the D-Back pitcher to reach on a single, followed by a base hit by Peralta to load the bases.
Eduardo Escobar, acquired from Minnesota before the non-waiver trade deadline, delivered a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Marte to tie the game at 1-1.
“Obviously, I don’t want them to load the bases ever, especially the first two innings of a game,” Bumgarner said. “To get out of that and keep it close there, we never lost the lead, so that was good.”
Greinke (12-6) surrendered two earned runs on four hits over six innings, with five strikeouts and one walk. David Peralta was 4-for-5 with a double for Arizona.
GIANTS JOTTINGS: LHP Madison Bumgarner celebrated his 29th birthday on Aug. 1. … Attendance at Chase Field was 22,980 for the opening game of the four-game series. … Friday’s starters are RHP Chris Stratton (8-6, 5.14) for San Francisco against LHP Patrick Corbin (7-4, 3.26).
UP NEXT: The Giants and Diamondbacks continue their series Friday night at 6:40 pm PDT.
